Nothing is too small. Nothing is too, quote-unquote, ordinary or insignificant. Those are the things that make up the measure of our days, and they're the things that sustain us. And they're the things that certainly can become worthy of poetry.

Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every scientist I have met who has been a success has had to imagine.

I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.

When we are touched by something it's as if we're being brushed by an angel's wings.

By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other.

I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered through the lens of race, sex, and age.

I was pirouette and flourish, I was filigree and flame. How could I count my blessings when I didn't know their names?