I love that people want to know about poetry. It's one of the ways of keeping alive.

I think we're always most interested in the things we're doing right now.

Keep growing. Stay awake. Beware of gurus. Keep a low overhead.

After I started publishing poetry I got to teach creative writing. Eventually I was promoted and even got tenure. But then I felt compelled to drop everything and move. But I've been teaching for a long time. More than four decades.

There's always some reason not to be writing and I regret the times I give in to that, because then writing feels strange - I feel like I have to reinvent the wheel. There are poets who don't have to do that.

People want poetry and need it - we need what's not honored by the corporate mentality that has taken over. It gives people a language for responding to the violence, the shallowness, the near-nothings, the toys we're all supposed to want. It's a way for people to be able to connect with themselves.

Whether the poet is living or dead, they're part of our imaginative community.