Christmas is taken very seriously in this household. I believe in Father Christmas and there's no way I'd do anything to undermine that belief.

I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way.

Poets deal in writing about feelings and trying to find the language and images for intense feelings.

For me, poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and to who we will become.

You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what's in your heart.

Poetry, above all is a series of intense moments ­ its power is not in narrative. I'm not dealing with facts, I'm dealing with emotion.

I write quite a lot of sonnets, and I think of them almost as prayers: short and memorable, something you can recite.

Poetry and prayer are very similar.

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.

Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning.

When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light.

Books are readable drugs.

What is it that makes you so angry, bothers you so deeply, that you're compelled to act?

I have to say that I reject somewhat the distinction between something called art and something called public art. I think all art demands and desires to be seen.

Ask yourself always: how can this be done better?

Poetry is a comforting piece of fiction set to more or less lascivious music.

As I got older, I started to do it more and more, and I wanted to learn all of the different types. I grew up doing modern, so I wanted to learn ballet, tap, jazz, and African - just everything.

The rapturuous, wild, and ineffable pleasure of drinking at somebody else's expense

First up, the lost and found has gone missing. It itself, is lost. So please try not to lose anything until we find it.

Do not despise anyone: an atom shadowing.

Knowing what must be done does away with fear.