A lot of people are writing poems and don't realize it. They have this limited idea of how the poem should sound or what subjects it should address.

In my own writing, I've mostly abandoned end-rhyme, but wordplay is still a huge part of my process.

If I begin a poem, "I am a donkey," reason kicks in and says, "She is taking on the persona of a donkey." But if I write, "I have taken so many drugs I can't see my feet," the tendency is to take that as a confession on the part of the poet. Maybe that doesn't matter. I'd almost prefer for it to be the other way round.

Recently, while I was in England, I saw a documentary on the BBC about the border between India and Pakistan at Wagah. When the border closes each evening around six o' clock, the soldiers on each side do these amazing high-stepping peacock march-offs (like a dance-off). The displays are almost identical on each side and thousands gather to watch them. Though they're patrolling along their separate borders, what comes across is how similar they are.

A lot of people are writing poems and don't realize it. They have this limited idea of how the poem should sound or what subjects it should address.

It's really thrilling to work with an illustrator - your vision expands with the addition of someone else's artwork/artistic vision.

Poems tend to have instructions for how to read them embedded in their language.