To understand the world, one’s place in it, is to be always at the risk of drowning.

Joining the military is not to be taken lightly. You're putting every part of yourself at risk, not just your body but your moral and spiritual centre.

I guess I find the boundaries between poetry and prose to be somewhat permeable.

The world makes liars of us all.

Poetry and prose are of equal importance to me as a reader, and there doesn't seem to be much difference in my own writing.

I had the feeling that if I encountered anyone they would intuit my disgrace and would judge me instantly. Nothing is more isolating than having a particular history. At least that's what I thought. Now I know: all pain is the same. Only the details are different.

I think a lot of the guys I know and a lot of people I've talked to, what they want is very often what most people want, a kind of simple life, a livelihood, a family, people who care about them, people they can care about. I think vets on the whole want the same things that everybody else does.