I think we're always in love. It's that simple. And it's important to remember that love doesn't have anything to do with sex. It's two different things. Being in love is the happy part. I was teasing my gentleman, "We know that you're in love when you cook for us." It's true. When men cook for you, they're in love.

For most of my life, I've thought of myself as pretty cool.

Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.

Writing is a conversation with reading; a dialogue with thinking. All conversations with older people contain repetition. Some of the ideas mean a lot to me, just interesting, so I both embrace and attack the ideas because I found them, well, delightful.

Follow your image as far as you can no matter how useless you think it is. Push yourself.

I was responding to one thing for the woman I knew, and there's another thing for what did she give, right. She [Nina Simone] was a great teacher.

Black Poetry is not for Black People...it is for everybody