Even If You Are Not Ready For

The Forties And Fifties Were Years Of High Poet-incense; The Language-flowers Were Thickly Sweet. Those Flowers Whined And Begged White Folks To Pick Them, To Find Them Lovable. Then The '60s: Independent Fire!

I Like The Concentration, The Crush; I Like Working With Language, As Others Like Working With Clay, Or Notes.

Even If You Are Not Ready For Day It Cannot Always Be Night.

One Reason Cats Are Happier Than People Is That They Have No Newspapers.

I Am An Ordinary Human Being Who Is Impelled To Write Poetry. ... I Still Do Feel That A Poet Has A Duty To Words, And That Words Can Do Wonderful Things, And It's Too Bad To Just Let Them Lie There Without Doing Anything With And For Them.