If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level.

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

One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who've gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits.

If the poem is so moving that even if you have no experience in that particular setting be it 1920's Harlem let's say. You still are so moved that you can put yourself in that position. That means that the writer has managed to go beyond the personal and touch the humanity in all of us and it's really a blast to read it because I realize how that this does hold true for the truly great poems.

The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something

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

To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet.