My Father Died When I Was Five,

I'm Afraid We Live At The Mercy Of A Power, Maybe A God, Without Mercy. And Yet We Find It, As I Have, From Others.

Now I Think Poetry Will Save Nothing From Oblivion, But I Keep Writing About The Ordinary Because For Me It's The Home Of The Extraordinary, The Only Home.

Corruption Is Subtle, Just Like The Bible Said. Many Young Poets Have Come To Me And Asked, How Am I Gonna Make It? They Feel, And Often With Considerable Justice, That They Are Being Overlooked While Others With Less Talent Are Out There Making Careers For Themselves. I Always Give The Same Advice. I Say, Do It The Hard Way, And You’ll Always Feel Good About Yourself. You Write Because You Have To, And You Get This Unbelievable Satisfaction From Doing It Well. Try To Live On That As Long As You’re Able.

I Find You In These Tears, Few, Useless And Here At Last. Don't Come Back.

I Have A Sense That Many Americans, Especially Those Like Me With European Or Foreign Parents, Feel They Have To Invent Their Families Just As They Have To Invent Themselves.