only through new words might new worlds be called into order

i am like a survivor of the flood walking through the streets drenched with God surprised that all of the drowned victims are still walking and talking

It was always important to me to be that kid who could rock the party as well as rock the English professor's mind.

I was always making up rhymes. But I never thought that poetry would become my life.

Why shouldn't rap be esoteric, able to take in current events, history and criticism? I guess it's this old idea of containment - that rappers, because they're black, can't and shouldn't aspire to look outside the ghetto for influence.

I think we fool ourselves and really negate a great deal of history if we think that the oral history of poetry is shorter than the written history of poetry. It's not true. Poetry has a longer oral tradition than it does written

I'm very excited about the resurgence of vinyl which seems to parallel a growing interest in live performance.