It takes a long time to publish a book.

I've had trouble with criticism, I guess. It's hard to know what role criticism plays in either encouraging poets or in getting other people to read them.

I got married, other people went off. We had sort of another public-we were our entire readership for many years, and we were very excited by each other.

The subject matter of the stories on the surface... there seem to be a number of stories about travel.

I wonder if I ever thought of an ideal reader... I guess when I was in my 20s and in New York and maybe even in my early 30s, I would write for my wife Janice... mainly for my poet friends and my wife, who was very smart about poetry.

I certainly have the feeling that I'm the same person even though I've changed a great deal.

It seems everything is so full of possibilities one can hardly take it all in.