Creative Writing And Literacy Go Hand And

I Try To Show What It Is About Language And Music That Enthralls, Because I Think Those Are The Two Elements Of Poetry.

By Making Us Stop For A Moment, Poetry Gives Us An Opportunity To Think About Ourselves As Human Beings On This Planet And What We Mean To Each Other.

I Never Think Of My Audience When I Write A Poem. I Try To Write Out Of Whatever Is Haunting Me; In Order For A Poem To Feel Authentic, I Have To Feel I'm Treading On Very Dangerous Ground, Which Can Mean That The Resulting Revelations May Prove Hurtful To Other People. The Time For Thinking About That Kind Of Guilt Or Any Collective Sense Of Responsibility, However, Occurs Much Later In The Creative Process, After The Poem Is Finished.

Courage Has Nothing To Do With Our Determination To Be Great. It Has To Do With What We Decide In That Moment When We Are Called Upon To Be More.

To Practice Your Scales, So To Speak, In Order Play The Symphony, Is What You Have To Do As A Young Poet.