My teaching was animated by what I was reading and being excited by as a poet.

Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.

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

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

A public expectation, it has to be said, not of poetry as such but of political positions variously approvable by mutually disapproving groups.

The next move is always the test.

If poetry and the arts do anything, they can fortify your inner life, your inwardness.