life is always bringing unexpected gifts.

I write poems about relationships, love relationships, and I'm not able to do that all the time. I could go two years without writing poems, and then write a dozen. Having a novel to work on, with the intricate puzzle of character and plot to work out, is satisfying for the time there is no poetry.

Pain can make a whole winter bright, like fever, force us to live deep and hard.

Growing old is, of all things we experience, that which takes the most courage, and at a time when we have the least resources, especially with which to meet frustration.

The trouble is, old age is not interesting until one gets there. It's a foreign country with an unknown language to the young and even to the middle-aged.

The garden is growth and change and that means loss as well as constant new treasures to make up for a few disasters.

Fighting dragons is my holy joy.