I haven’t met God and I haven’t been to heaven, so I’m skeptical.

We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention.

Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments.

A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be.

I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony.

I tend to like poems that engage me - that is to say, which do not bore me.

...In another time, What cannot be seen will define us, and we shall be prompted To say that language is error, and all things are wronged By representation. The self, we shall say, can never be Seen with a disguise, and never be seen without one.