I Am This Space My Body Believes

I See Many Black Males Grasping For Some Thread Of Hope. There Are So Many Destructive Practices, Glimpses Into A Psychic Abyss. That Must Be Very Frightening.

I'm Uncomfortable With The Focus On The Poet And Not On The Poem.

I Think Of My Poems As Personal And Public At The Same Time. You Could Say They Serve As Psychological Overlays. One Fits On Top Of The Other, And Hopefully There's An Ongoing Evolution Of Clarity.

Students Often Have Such A Lofty Idea Of What A Poem Is, And I Want Them To Realize That Their Own Lives Are Where The Poetry Comes From. The Most Important Things Are To Respect The Language; To Know The Classical Rules, Even If Only To Break Them; And To Be Prepared To Edit, To Revise, To Shape.

I Close My Eyes And Can See Men Drawing Lines In The Dust. America Pushes Through The Membrane Of Mist And Smoke, And I'm A Small Boy Again In Bogalusa.