If they don't read, if they don't love reading; if they don't find themselves compulsively reading, I don't think they're really a writer

Creative writing and literacy go hand and hand.

I think that when a poem can move readers across generations and across its specific class or race then it becomes truly classic.

To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my own poems that the reader feels a connection, soul to soul, that'll help us all feel a little less alone on the planet. And it does have the power to direct change. A writer can make the word 'dark' be something positive. You can relieve a word like 'hysterical' of its misogynistic implications. You can make the language your own. That's what poetry is about.

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.

My favorite poets may not be your bread and butter. I have more favorite poems than favorite poets.

If you can't be free, be a mystery.