My father always taught by telling stories about his experiences. His lessons were about morality and art and what insects and birds and human beings had in common. He told me what it meant to be a man and to be a Black man. He taught me about love and responsibility, about beauty, and how to make gumbo.

I took up writing to escape the drudgery of that every day cubicle kind of war.

The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do everyday. There are two reasons for this rule: Getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind.

Poetry teaches us music, metaphor, condensation and specificity.

My job is writing for people to enjoy and then writing about a broader and a deeper world.

At one time if you were a black writer you had to be one of the best writers in the world to be published. You had to be great. Now you can be good. Mediocre. And that's good.

Love makes you blind to your own survival. And if it doesn't then it's not love at all.