Poetry is the least imposition on silence in a world of chatter.

A nation's art is the expression of its soul.

Much of our lives involves the word “no.” In school we are mostly told, “Don't do it this way. Do it that way.” But art is the big yes. In art, you get a chance to make something where there was nothing.

I speak to you in one tongue/ but every moment that ever mattered to me/ occurred in another language.

Our job is to become more and more of what we are. The growth of a poet seems to be related to his or her becoming less and less embarrassed about more and more.

I'm partial to coffee shops, brain work, and poems on the page. I write after midnight. Sometimes, twisty syntax happens, and I surrender.

Try to write poems at least one person in the room will hate.