[My favorite word is] and. It is so hopeful.

Imagine a famine. Now imagine a piece of bread. Both of these things are real but you happen to be in the same room with only one of them. Put yourself into a different room, that’s what the mind is for.

I don't think I solve problems in my poetry; I think I uncover the problems.

At the very least we want a witness. We can't stand the idea of our own voices falling silent finally, like a radio running down.

Writers and books are cheap dates, especially when you compare the cost of a book with a ticket to the opera - or an NHL game.

I think the book you always like best is the one you're about to write.

Time folds you in its arms and gives you one last kiss, and then it flattens you out and folds you up and tucks you away until it's time for you to become someone else's past time, and then time folds again.