A poem employs both the sound and the sense of language, it treats words not just as signifiers but as a plastic medium of artistic expression.

People who publish poetry today do it from a sense that poetry needs to be published, not because they think they are going to make money.

Poetry resonates differently in each culture; it doesn't in America.

I like each of my books to be different. Once I've done something I like to move on and push myself to learn new things and expand the limits of poetic form.

Poems are language turned into art; sound and sense matter; they can be as long or longer than The Odyssey or as short or shorter than a haiku. Not very helpful.

Many other cultures value poetry more than we do. In Ireland, poetry is a top cultural pursuit, the art to end all arts.

I tend to write poetry that is rich in data of various sorts. The lyric poem isn't perfectly suited to accommodating such data, so I've had to find new ways to say everything that I want to say.

The culture stays alive, but certain parts of it die or fail, and that's very interesting to me.

It's not surprising to me that books ended up playing a central role in my life, but it is somewhat mysterious that poetry did.

You know some religious scholars believe that when faced with overwhelming temptation you should commit a small sin just to relieve the pressure a bit.

The brightest skies are always foreshadowed by dark clouds

Some men are by nature explorers; my nature is to stay under the same moon and stars, and if the weather is wet, under the same roof. It's a strange world, why make it stranger?

I've only had two rules. Do all you can and do it the best you can. It's the only way you ever get that feeling of accomplishing something.

When undertaking marriage, everyone must be the judge of his own thoughts, and take counsel from himself.

Ground the main character in stupidity. Hire a good cast and a good crew.

It is the small steps which bring you satisfaction at the end of the day.

I think a pretty good modus operandi is to believe that everything we know is wrong. The stomach will be the key to depression or consciousness or we'll realize ants are smarter than people.

Suffering is a call for inquiry, all pain needs investigation.

I just was non-political and didn't see myself as a person who could push people around, make their decision, you know, and tell them how lousy their work was.