Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life.

I wasn't a pretty girl. I was six feet tall at 15, you know.

Every day offers you 10,000 reasons to cry, but if you can find just one reason to laugh then you will be all right.

You may be pretty or plain, heavy or thin, gay or straight, poor or rich. But remember this: In an election, every voice is equally powerful -- don't underestimate your vote. Voting is the great equalizer.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Grace is like a lake of drinkable water right outside your door. But you stay inside and die of thirst.

Poetry gave me back my voice.