"I don't think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry."

"I did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics, and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation."

"I don't think poetry is something that can be taught. We can encourage young writers, but what you can't teach them is the very essence of poetry."

"One of the most powerful devices of poetry is the use of distortions. You can go from talking about the way a minute passes to the way a century passes, or a lifetime."

"When I have an idea, it goes from vague, cloudy notion to 100,000 words in a heartbeat."

"It is a subtle truth that an idea is a delicate seed; water it with curiosity and protect it from cynicism — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"I've never worried about what audiences would accept or had a game plan regarding the career. I never had an idea of how I should look to my fans or anybody else."

"It is a enduring truth that vision without execution is fantasy; execution without vision is chaos — an essential principle for the reflective life."