And like an unfaithful mate, once a car has let you down you never sort of trust it again.

There is no such thing as writer's block. There is only not enough information. If you can't write, learn something.

Who I am really keeps surprising me.

Poetry is like air. It's one of the necessary things. Everyone benefits from poetry. And as you know, poetry is international. There are only two things that are truly international, poetry and wine.

I think that too many strangers were in her [Nina Simone's] life, and not enough people that she knew and loved.

I knew Stokely [Carmichael] and them, but when you got to that, you saw that Nina Simone started to take up their burden. She started to preach for them. She was taking on the burden of "I want to tell the people."

and sometimes I sit down at my typewriter and I think not of someone cause there isn't anyone to think about and i wonder is it worth it