I see the progress typical in some of my poems as starting with something simple and moving into something more demanding. This is certainly the pattern of weird poetry.

One of the ridiculous aspects of being a poet is the huge gulf between how seriously we take ourselves and how generally we are ignored by everybody else.

A motto I've adopted is, if at first you don't succeed, hide all evidence that you ever tried.

The mind can be trained to relieve itself on paper.

Poetry is like standing on the edge of a lake on a moonlit night and the light of the moon is always pointing straight at you.

Nationalism is a type of insanity in which the boundaries of a land replace God.

In the process of simplifying oneself, one often discovers the thing called voice.

Write the poem only you can write.

But my heart is always propped up in a field on its tripod, ready for the next arrow.

But tonight, the lion of contentment has placed a warm heavy paw on my chest.

While the novelist is banging on his typewriter, the poet is watching a fly in the windowpane.

A myth is a fixed way of looking at the world which cannot be destroyed because looked at through the myth all evidence supports that myth.

Today, Medicare provides health insurance to about 40 million seniors and disabled individuals each year. The number is only expected to grow as the baby boomers begin retiring.

Consume all obstacles, heavenly fire, and give us now both hearts of flame and tongues of fire to preach Your reconciling word, for Jesus' sake

I thought I might cry, the way you do when someone gives you some kindness when you most need it but when it seems the most surprising thing.

The human condition: lost in thought.

I am an emotional pitcher, but I can control it. When I was in high school, I was a little immature and I let my emotions get the best of me.

If anybody wants to be a rock star they've gotta try hard enough. They're not gonna get it handed to them

Conservation is not just an ideal that we read about; it works.

The percentage of Americans in the prison system, has doubled since 1985.

Remember, nothing succeeds without toil.