I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry.

Poetry is the art of saying what you mean but disguising it.

I do not read newspapers. I do not watch television. I am not interested in current events, although I will occasionally discuss them if other people want to discuss them.

But I am not political in the current events sense, and I have never wanted anyone to read my poetry that way.

But I don't think that poetry is a good, to use a contemporary word, venue, for current events.

High and low culture come together in all Post Modern art, and American poetry is not excluded from this.

Learning to live what you're born with is the process, the involvement, the making of a life.

American poets celebrate their bodies, very specifically, as Whitman did.

American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.

Still, language is resilient, and poetry when it is pressured simply goes underground.

I write in the first person because I have always wanted to make my life more interesting than it was.

How we choose to deal with pain is ultimately the measure of who we are and of the success we have in closing our gaps.

A poet is born in the present, lives in the past and thinks in the future.

I say to mankind, Be not curious about God. For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God - I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.

Ask nothing more of me sweet; All I can give you I give; Heart of my heart were it more, More would be laid at your feet.

On the flip side, I enjoy covering the Arab world, I've spent my entire career here in the Middle East, but I would never call myself a war correspondent.

The true mark of a Christian leader is trying to build up other people. Raise up other leaders!

For me, the film has to be incredibly bad to make me want to pack up and leave.

Take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light behind.

I promote my value to others with passion and enthusiasm.

Don't take anything from me because I'll track it down.