A poem is like a score for the human voice.

While all bodies share the same fate, all voices do not.

In writing poetry, all of one's attention is focused on some inner voice.

That's what I want, that kind of recklessness where the poem is even ahead of you. It's like riding a horse that's a little too wild for you, so there's this tension between what you can do and what the horse decides it's going to do.

Poetry is the language of extremity. Poetry is a transfer of potency. You feel something potent and then you transfer it onto the page.

The problem with memory is that is changes whatever it touches. It is never that accurate. As a result, I end up modifying and revising my own experiences. It's myth making.

Memory is sweet. Even when it’s painful, memory is sweet.