Poetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that.

A poet's interest in craft never fades, of course.

And it is exceedingly short, his galloping life. Dogs die so soon. I have my stories of that grief, no doubt many of you do also. It is almost a failure of will, a failure of love, to let them grow old-or so it feels. We would do anything to keep them with us, and to keep them young. The one gift we cannot give.

I took one look and fell, hook and tumble.

Still, what I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled---to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world.

Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.