I always thought that writing poetry was in itself a political act.

Expecting rain, the profile of a day Wears its soul like a hat.

In the increasingly convincing darkness The words become palpable, like a fruit That is too beautiful to eat.

I like poems you can tack all over with a hammer and there are no hollow places.

Once you've lived in France, you don't want to live anywhere else, including France.

Until, accustomed to disappointments, you can let yourself rule and be ruled by these strings or emanations that connect everything together, you haven't fully exorcised the demon of doubt that sets you in motion like a rocking horse that cannot stop rocking.

My feeling is that most political poetry is preaching to the choir, and that the people who are going to make the political changes in our lives are not the people who read poetry, unfortunately. Poetry not specifically aimed at political revolution, though, is beneficial in moving people toward that kind of action, as well as other kinds of action. A good poem makes me want to be active on as many fronts as possible.