There's nothing compared to the history of writing about the city of New York that you get, say, in Charles Reznikoff.

One cannot balance tragedy in the scales Unless one weighs it with the tragic heart.

When my own writing needs a perk, I open Zukofsky and read from "A" - particularly sections "22" and "23." It can be opaque, but I love the intensity.

A phrase may come to me as I am walking, and, once I write it down in my journal, the rest of the poem will unravel from that catalyst.

I had lost something in my youth and made money instead.

I died in my boots like a pioneer With the whole wide sky above me.

American Muse, whose strong and diverse heart So many men have tried to understand But only made it smaller with their art, Because you are as various as your land.