There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the Library of Congress and advise the librarian. The rest is how I want to promote poetry

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.

Equality and self-determination should never be divided in the name of religious or ideological fervor.

I never think of my audience when I write a poem. I try to write out of whatever is haunting me; in order for a poem to feel authentic, I have to feel I'm treading on very dangerous ground, which can mean that the resulting revelations may prove hurtful to other people. The time for thinking about that kind of guilt or any collective sense of responsibility, however, occurs much later in the creative process, after the poem is finished.

My childhood library was small enough not to be intimidating. And yet I felt the whole world was contained in those two rooms. I could walk any aisle and smell wisdom.

I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going to make it.

I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on.