I'm old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised.

When I mention somebody, that doesn't necessarily mean that I identify with him, personally or poetically. I'm extremely happy when I encounter poets who are different than I am. The ones who have their own distinct poetics provide me with the greatest experiences.

Even boredom should be described with gusto. How many things are happening on a day when nothing happens?

I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.

Well, one is inspired by the whole of life, one's own and somebody else's. You know how sometimes you hear great music, and music is completely untranslatable into words, into any words. A certain tension that is born when one listens to music could aid you in expressing something absolutely different.

Animals don't even try to look any different from what nature intended. They humbly wear their shells, scales, spines, plumes, pelts, and down. ... The conscious impulse to change one's appearance is found only among humans.

They say the first sentence in any speech is always the hardest. Well, that one's behind me, anyway.