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

In the later books I am much more at home in the use of language to describe things. I had never thought of that until a critic pointed that out.

The great watershed of modern poetry is French, more than English.

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.

I did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics, and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation.

I don't think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry.

I think that it's more likely that in my 60s and 70s I will be writing poetry rather than fiction.