I grew up in Ohio, where civil-rights accomplishments had already begun to accelerate before Martin Luther King appeared. In hindsight, we know that many people, black and white, were instrumental in changing the Jim Crow status quo on all levels.

At the very beginning when I begin writing a poem I try not to think of the audience or anyone at all except for trying to get at the very center of what is driving that poem. In a way it's like analyzing myself.

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.

Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature.

We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is.

I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I think I loved literature more.

Libraries are where it all begins.