I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.

I grew up in a sad, depressed place. I got out. Poetry saved my life.

We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I stayed where I was happy. I spent a great deal of time in my younger years just writing and reading, walking around the woods in Ohio, where I grew up.

Don't we all die someday and someday comes all too soon? What will you do with your own wild, glorious chance at this thing we call life.

And it can keep you as busy as anything else, and happier.

The poet dreams of the classroom I dreamed I stood up in class And I said aloud: Teacher, Why is algebra important? Sit down, he said. Then I dreamed I stood up And I said: Teacher, I’m weary of the turkeys That we have to draw every fall. May I draw a fox instead? Sit down, he said. Then I dreamed I stood up once more and said: Teacher, My heart is falling asleep And it wants to wake up. It needs to be outside. Sit down, he said.