I'm just really interested in the interface of the individual with the collective. I think that's where the arts live.

I like to use research to enlarge the poem. And sometimes a rhetorical or syntactical gesture stitches the poem along.

It's extremely important that, as writers, we give a voice to those who don't have voices, including the other animals that we share the planet with and the places that are endangered or being lost.

Once you realize that human actions affect every bit of earth and sky, you realize that the environment isn't just what surrounds us - it's all one whole.

I am a result of what has happened on this planet - how could I find the art to say that? I can't, and yet, I am drawn to it because of the enormity of it. That seems really important.

Bringing science into poetry is one way of acknowledging some of the richest stuff that is in my cultural moment.

I've been accused of darkness by my inner light.

I don't know much about death and the sorriest lesson I've learned is that words, my most trusted guardians against chaos, offer small comfort in the face of anyone's dying.

What keeps me level is the refusal to let the best of human aspirations die in the face of the challenges. I make a moral decision to be hopeful.

We're nature. Our minds are nature. Our desire to make poetry is nature.

As writers, the world is not about individual expression entirely because we are producing works of literature and getting them out into the world.

To remember the past is to see that we are here today by grace, that we have survived as a gift.

Life is full of beautiful moments. Live your life to the fullest. And do what youlove.

America may be slow to rise to a challenge. But our history has shown that once we make up our minds to really do something, nothing can stand in our way.

How long before my dignity is reclaimed?

When we hear people talk of riches, honors and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end, and let us then say: My God, I wish for You alone and nothing more.

So as my kids will tell you, they had a pretty normal life.

Creative work is incredibly difficult, and that is where the tests lie.

I have a couple of girlfriends who are like healing. We take care of each other. They know when I need to be taken care of.

As a result of half a century of Soviet rule people have been weaned from a belief in human kindness.

It's dark already and I'm out here again, talking, telling the story to the quiet night.