That's one of the great things about poetry; one realises that one does one's little turn - that you're just part of the great crop, as it were.

I suppose for whatever reason I actively welcome being put down, something which perhaps goes back to my upbringing - that accusation of not being worthy which could be laid at one's door.

It's not as if I'm trying to write crossword puzzles to which one might find an answer at the back of the book or anything like that.

Living at that pitch, on that edge, is something which many poets engage in to some extent.

I'm sure 50 percent of television ads use rhyme

The point of poetry is to be acutely discomforting, to prod and provoke, to poke us in the eye, to punch us in the nose, to knock us off our feet, to take our breath away.

We simply have not kept in touch with poetry