One will never again look at a birch tree, after the Robert Frost poem, in exactly the same way.

Of course, you can't legislate for how people are going to read.

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.

Your average pop song or film is a very sophisticated item, with very sophisticated ways of listening and viewing that we have not really consciously developed over the years - because we were having such a good time

One will never again look at a birch tree, after the Robert Frost poem, in exactly the same way.

I certainly am interested in accessibility, clarity, and immediacy.

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.