My poems tend to be more celebratory and lyrical, and the novels so far pretty dark. Poetry doesn't seem to me to be an appropriate tool for exploring that.

The definition of a page-turner really aught to be that this page is so good, you can't bear to leave it behind, but then the next page is there and it might be just as amazing as this one.

That's the wonderful thing with nerds: they're enthusiasts. Not having a life means you get to love things with a passion and nobody bothers you about it.

Our response to the world is essentially one of wonder, of confronting the mysterious with a sense, not of being small, or insignificant, but of being part of a rich and complex narrative.

All you have to do is choose the right day, the right weather, and you come upon a hidden place in the morning light where time stopped long before you were born

The trick and the beauty of language is that it seems to order the whole universe, misleading us into believing that we live in sight of a rational space, a possible harmony.

As I child, I came to this idea with a horrified fascination. Once upon a time, I wasn’t here. Before that, my parents weren’t here. And before that…

If the components of the body were organs and veins and cells, then the components of thought and language were words and grammar.

Poetry stands or falls by its music.

With fiction, I tend to get to my desk and start writing. Poetry I write in my head, often while walking, so that my poems have an organic quality, hopefully.

I realised I'd spent a lot of time in my poetry trying to find a way of talking about that whereof we cannot speak.

And this shows that sometimes people want to be stupid and they do not want to know the truth.

I don't want him to hurt like I'm hurting. I don't want him to miss me like I'll miss him. I don't want him to be falling for me like I've been falling for him.

I couldn't have done 16 months of deployment without a sense of irony. N

She lifted a shoulder casually and slowly blinked."Where do you want to be?""With you, " he answered without hesitation.

Energy speaks through dreams....are you listening?

The thing I don't understand about homosexuals is, how do they decide which one is the one who's supposed to pretend they don't want it?

When I notice a rear wheel overtaking me, I know I'm sitting in a Lotus.

Surrender your self-interest. Love others as much as you love yourself. Then you can be entrusted with all things under heaven.

It's a joy to work where I live, and come home and sleep in my own bed.

Believe it or not, I'm a big fan of patchouli oil. I know it's not a universally liked fragrance. I usually combine it with other essential oils - I have many mixtures I like.