I used to go up to her house. She lived upstate [in New York] and I lived in Manhattan; you're living in a lot of noise and my career was being built. For me to spend time with Nina [Simone] is to spend a lot of quiet time.

If I could come back as anything - I'd be a bird, first, but definitely the command key is my second choice.

I would put books on par with chocolate, because a good book is delicious.

Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.

I do not understand why any poet or writer would run for office; that's a different sense of who you are. I'm just a poet. I am as truthful as I can be. That makes me an artist. I heed the people; I do not lead the people.

You're only as good as your last book.

I'm an old storyteller. I tell the story. It's about the story.