I shall gain glory or die.

The most exhilarating for the writer and the reader, are gift-things-poems which arrive on their own energy, poems that in William Shakespeare's term "slip" from you.

You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.

History says, Don’t hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme

Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.

Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.

As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism and our aesthetic sense make us wary of crediting the positive note.