My teaching was animated by what I was reading and being excited by as a poet.
Harvard meant a lot in my writing life from the beginning, even though I didnt actually do much composition on the spot.
Harvard created wonderful conditions for me as a writerbut the writing was done, almost entirely, when I got home.
I suppose I did feel a certain public pressure always.
Im a firm believer in learning by heart.
The poems I did write there [in Harvard] include Alphabets the 1984 Phi Beta Kappa poem and A Sofa in the Forties. And, of course, the John Harvard poem for the 350th anniversary Villanelle for an Anniversary.