I'm writing a poem right now about a nose. I've always wanted to write a poem about a nose. But it's a ludicrous subject. That's why, when I was younger, I was afraid of [writing] something that didn't make a lot of sense. But now I'm not. I have nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter.

Emeralds,' said the rabbit. 'Emeralds make a lovely gift.

My big concern is me and what do I do now until the time of my death. That is valid. That is useful. That is beautiful. That is creative.

Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what's real and what's not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.

How do you write for children? I really have never figured that out. So I decided to just ignore it

And [he] sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot

I know there are supposedly happy people in this world. I never believed it, but I take it for granted. God knows, they're all on television.