Back Then, I Couldn't Have Left A

For Sure I Once Thought Of Myself As The Poet Who Would Save The Ordinary From Oblivion.

I Still Believe In This Country, That It Can Fulfill The Destiny Blake And Whitman Envisioned. I Still Believe In American Poetry.

I Was Very Lucky To Have A Mother Who Encouraged Me To Become A Poet.

You Have To Follow Where The Poem Leads. And It Will Surprise You. It Will Say Things You Didn't Expect To Say. And You Look At The Poem And You Realize, 'that Is Truly What I Felt.' That Is Truly What I Saw.

Some Things You Know All Your Life. They Are So Simple And True They Must Be Said Without Elegance, Meter And Rhyme...they Must Be Naked And Alone, They Must Stand For Themselves.