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

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

I think that you certainly don't have to be aged and travel the world to write a poem.

If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings.

Listen how they say your name. If they can't say that right, there's no way they're going to know how to treat you proper, neither.

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding.

What writing does is to reveal.