I See Many Black Males Grasping For

I Am This Space My Body Believes In.

Through The Years I Have Seen Myself As A Peaceful Person, But The Awareness Of The Anger Is Part Of That Process.

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 Think Of Language As Our First Music.

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.