It is this language of values which I hope to bring to my books. . . . I want to bring values to those who have not been valued, and I want to etch those values in terms of the ideal. Young people need ideals which identify them, and their lives, as central . . . guideposts which tell them what they can be, should be, and indeed are.

On the streets of the city They have taken my Who-I-Am As well as my What-I-Was And now I am desperate for them both Again

he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't guilty.

I know I'm tired of thinking about what I should have done yesterday. I know I'm just tired. If I knew what to do with my life, how to fix it up, I would have done it a long time ago. You can't dig that? You think I want to live like I'm somebody's throwaway?

If what I read doesn't reflect my life - whether I'm gay or Latino or on welfare - doesn't that really mean that my life is not valuable?

Children have adopted a consumerist attitude - I dare you to entertain me.

It's a hard life sometimes and the biggest temptation is to let how hard it is be an excuse to weaken