I Carry A Notebook With Me Everywhere.

At The Very Beginning When I Begin Writing A Poem I Try Not To Think Of The Audience Or Anyone At All Except For Trying To Get At The Very Center Of What Is Driving That Poem. In A Way It's Like Analyzing Myself.

In Working On A Poem, I Love To Revise. Lots Of Younger Poets Don't Enjoy This, But In The Process Of Revision I Discover Things

If They Don't Read, If They Don't Love Reading; If They Don't Find Themselves Compulsively Reading, I Don't Think They're Really A Writer

Under Adversity, Under Oppression, The Words Begin To Fail, The Easy Words Begin To Fail. In Order To Convey Things Accurately, The Human Being Is Almost Forced To Find The Most Precise Words Possible, Which Is A Precondition For Literature.

People Write Me From All Over The Country, Asking Me, And Sometimes Even Telling Me, What They Think A Poet Laureate Should Do. I Found That Immensely Valuable.