A poem is a flexible thing, and a poem is a poem.

Before you go further, let me tell you what a poem brings, first, you must know the secret, there is no poem to speak of, it is a way to attain a life without boundaries.

We can understand poetry from a billion - in a billion styles, experiment, tradition, combination, spice, meter, image. It's all there for the poet and for the listener and for all of us.

If I can only be known as one thing, then, well, I guess it would be poet and performer and teacher.

First grade was - I spoke only Spanish, and second grade - probably a bit more English. And by the time I hit third grade, I was learning, of course, much, much more English.

Poetry is a call to action, and it also is action.

Poetry can tell us about what's going on in our lives - not only our personal but our social and political lives.

I gave my voice to poetry.

The banner of the project is 'Casa de Colores.' Under that banner, I'm going to invite people to do a lot of good things. Perhaps working in groups, working on poetry.

My mother was a washerwoman - or a woman that cleaned houses in Texas... in Plano, Texas - who always loved poetry and always loved stories.

You think money can solve any problem, but all it s good for is buying the things it can, and leaving you free to pursue the things it can't.

It was an awkward moment. We were burning down our host's house, a situation which any guest seeks to avoid.

The question is not 'Am I a leader?' - the question is 'What kind of leader am I?

If you think that you're so smart and holy, that means you haven't yet realized that a part of what we experience today...is a result of our stupidity and wickedness in the past.

When you drank the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn’t have you by the throat.

I’m a great believer in common sense, and the older I get I see that common sense is not that common

Cats hate a closed door, you know, regardless of which side they're on. If they're out, they want to get in, and if they're in, they want to get out.

That was my real education in the world - I learned politics, the social and cultural life of India, Hindu tradition and religion, and Buddhism.

I write to tell the truth about the black condition as I see it. Therefore, I write to offer a black woman's view of the world.

When I'm with Purple, I'm totally with Purple; when I'm doing my thing, I'm totally doing my own thing.