Prepare yourself so that you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud.

I answer the heroic question, 'Death, where is thy sting?' with 'It is in my heart and mind and memories.

My work is to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

If you have, give. If you learn, teach.

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but a woman called by a devaluing name will only be weakened by the misnomer.

The subject of the poem usually dictates the rhythm or the rhyme and its form. Sometimes, when you finish the poem and you think the poem is finished, the poem says, "You're not finished with me yet," and you have to go back and revise, and you may have another poem altogether. It has its own life to live.