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

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

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.

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.

I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.

Libraries are where it all begins.

People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I found that immensely valuable.