The joy of poetry is that it will wait for you. Novels don't wait for you. Characters change. But poetry will wait. I think it's the greatest art.

I shall become, I shall become a collector of me. And put meat on my soul.

The black artist is dangerous. Black art controls the 'Negro's' reality, negates negative influences, and creates positive images.

I probably have not killed anyone in America because I write, I've maintained good controls over myself by writing.

So much of growing up is an unbearable waiting. A constant longing for another time. Another season.

You can't have relationships with other people until you give birth to yourself.

I write to tell the truth about the black condition as I see it. Therefore, I write to offer a black woman's view of the world.