Reading is a pleasure, but to finish reading, to come to the blank space at the end, is also a pleasure.

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.

Just when I thought there wasn't room enough for another thought in my head, I had this great idea—

Somewhere someone is traveling furiously toward you, At incredible speed, traveling day and night.

The soul establishes itself. But how far can it swim out through the eyes And still return safely to its nest?

I listen to music a great deal. In a way, it's trying to express things that can't be expressed in words. That's something that interests me, too. Even though I use words to express myself, I am trying to, it seems to me, get beyond that.

I feel that poetry is going on all the time inside, an underground stream.