Poetry is language in orbit.

Once off the bush The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not. -Blackberry picking

Behaviour that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere.

When I was teaching, I gave a lot of my mind and anxiety to it. There was always something clenched and anxious in me until the classes were over.

Harvard meant a lot in my writing life from the beginning, even though I didnt actually do much composition on the spot.

Memory has always been fundamental for me. In fact, remembering what I had forgotten is the way most of the poems get started.

My body was braille for the creeping influences.