What's important about poetry in the context of leadership is that most of the time, power has to do with dominance. But poetry is never about dominance. Poetry is powerful but it cannot even aspire to dominate anyone. It means making a connection. That's what it means.

We do not deride the fears of prospering white America. A nation of violence and private property has every reason to dread the violated and the deprived.

Overall, white men run America. From nuclear armaments to the filth and jeopardy of New York City subways to the cruel mismanagement of health care, is there anything to boast about?

I believe that love is the single, true prosperity of any moment.

To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that's political, in its most profound way.

and if i if i ever let love go because the hatred and the whisperings become a phantom dictate i o- bey in lieu of impulse and realities (the blossoming flamingos of my wild mimosa trees) then let love freeze me out. (from i must become a menace to my enemies)

The thing about genius is it will never yield to circumstances. Genius regards what's given as the beginning of its need to find or devise something else.