If You Ask Me If I Have

I Thought It Was Irrelevant To Talk About What A Wonderful Thing Poetry Was If You Didn't Teach People To Read.

The Birds Are Silent In The Woods. / Just Wait: Soon Enough / You Will Be Quiet Too

Environmental Regulation Looked Like It Was Going To Be Under Serious Attack, And They Were Giving All Of Those Speeches About Getting Government Off People's Backs.

It's The Same With This Idea Of A Literate Public, And Also Of A Democracy In Which People Have Access To And Really Read The Best Books. It Turns Out That Even When You Create This Kind Of Environment, Maybe Only 10 Percent Of The People Want To Read Those Books.

As Poet Laureate, I Was Asked To Be A Spokesman For Literature. Then What I Decided Is I Am A Spokesman For This Other Imagination Of Community - Not The One Showing Up In The Market. Nobody Was Tending To The Way We're Imaginatively Connected To Each Other.