I never thought of myself as a New York poet or as an American poet.

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

Certainly, it seems true enough that there's a good deal of irony in the world... I mean, if you live in a world full of politicians and advertising, there's obviously a lot of deception.

You aren't just the age you are. You are all the ages you ever have been!

I love painting and music, of course. I don't know nearly as much about them as I know about poetry. I've certainly been influenced by fiction. I was overwhelmed by War and Peace when I read it, and I didn't read it until I was in my late 20s.

If you want to know how much I love and care for you, count the waves.

It's a well known thing that ordinary perceptions can have a strange aspect when one is travelling.