The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think it comes from that shadow string, the double strings.

I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day.

In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover things

A good poem is like a bouillon cube. It's concentrated and it nourishes you when you need it.

The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it keeps on opening. You may fall in. Sure, it's hard to get started; remember learning to use knife and fork? Dig in: you'll never reach bottom. It's not like it's the end of the world -- just the world as you think you know it.

I think if you put something in a file that says "war poems" or "love poems" that you already restrict the way in which the poem might move.

The joy of working at something to find out what it means to me is what I grew up with.