You have to follow where the poem leads. And it will surprise you. It will say things you didn't expect to say. And you look at the poem and you realize, 'That is truly what I felt.' That is truly what I saw.

I realized poetry's the thing that I can do 'cause I can stick at it and work with tremendous intensity.

I'm seventy-one now, so it's hard to imagine a dramatic change.

My temperament is not geared to that of a novelist.

But I'm too old to be written about as a young poet.

My father died when I was five, but I grew up in a strong family.

But most commonly, it's one poem that I work on with a lot of intensity.