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

What is the beauty of the haiku is that it is not simplistic. The beauty of the haiku I just said is very complex. It reaches all the complexities of our life on this Earth. Peace - that's a very complex idea, peace, so we can't get it as human beings.

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.

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

What I'm trying to do is to tell young people that I teach them how to breathe before I teach the haiku. That one breath, that one breath, because the haiku keeps you alive. It keeps you going. If you learn how to breath the haiku, you learn how to breathe. If you learn how to breathe, you're much healthier.

All poets, all writers are political. They either maintain the status quo, or they say, 'Something's wrong, let's change it for the better.'