I'm Very Aware That We Make These

Gardening Is Really An Extended Form Of Reading, Of History And Philosophy. The Garden Itself Has Become Like Writing A Book. I Walk Around And Walk Around. Apparently People Often See Me Standing There And They Wave To Me And I Don't See Them Because I Am Reading The Landscape.

All Of These Declarations Of What Writing Ought To Be, Which I Had Myself-though, Thank God I Had Never Committed Them To Paper-i Think Are Nonsense. You Write What You Write, And Then Either It Holds Up Or It Doesn't Hold Up. There Are No Rules Or Particular Sensibilities. I Don't Believe In That At All Anymore.

The Garden Has Taught Me To Live, To Appreciate The Times When Things Are Fallow And When They're Not.

I'm Writing Out Of Desperation. I Felt Compelled To Write To Make Sense Of It To Myself - So I Don't End Up Saying Peculiar Things Like 'i'm Black And I'm Proud.' I Write So I Don't End Up As A Set Of Slogans And Clichés.

I've Never Let The Criticism Deter Me.