The Joy Of Working At Something To

There Are Distinct Duties Of A Poet Laureate. I Plan A Reading Series At The Library Of Congress And Advise The Librarian. The Rest Is How I Want To Promote Poetry

My Best Times Are Midnight To Six Actually. I'll Leaf Through My Notebooks And If Something Catches My Eye And I Feel Like I Want To Transfer It From The Notebook To The Page, I Do, And Then Comes This Very Strange Process Which Is Difficult To Describe In That I'll Write Until I Get Stuck Or I Can't Go Any Further Or I'm Boring Myself Or Whatever And Then I Might Go To Another Poem.

I Have A High Guilt Quotient. A Poem Can Go Through As Many As 50 Or 60 Drafts. It Can Take From A Day To Two Years - Or Longer.

I Was Not Interested In Doing The Plot Of Oedipus In Blackface. I Did Wonder, What Would These People Have Been Like If They Hadn't Been In That Situation?... One Could Look At Oedipus, Or At My Character Augustus, As A Cynical Schemer Who Did Everything Because He Was Hungry For Power. But That's Just Too Easy. I'm More Interested In How Humans Can Embody Conflicting Goals And Emotions.

I Was Pirouette And Flourish, I Was Filigree And Flame. How Could I Count My Blessings When I Didn't Know Their Names?