I encourage students to pursue an idea far enough so they can see what the cliches and stereotypes are. Only then do they begin to hit pay dirt.

Young writers only take off when they find their subjects. Since almost everyone has a family and stories about family, that is often a place to start.

Pound's translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later.

If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable.

A poem in form still has to have voice, gesture, a sense of discovery, a metaphoric connection, as any poetry does.

Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.

I tell students they will know they are getting somewhere when a scene is so painful they can just barely bring themselves to write about it. A writer has to draw blood.