I try to be realistic with students. And say that there's a good chance that they're not going to get a creative writing teaching job, that there aren't enough jobs to go around and the university faculties are cutting back on staff and that they may have to get some other kind of work. None of them wants to hear that, but it is true and I think I'm a good example for them of somebody who took the other route.

Turtle has just one plan at a time, and every cell buys into it.

Keeping a journal is like taking good care of one’s heart.

Valentine's Day is the poet's holiday.

This evening, I sat by an open window and read till the light was gone and the book was no more than a part of the darkness.

Sometimes you sense how faithfully your life is delivered, even though you can't read the address.

A poem is a record of a discovery.