Consistency is for insects

negotiate the irrational

"For me, one of poetry's jobs is to negotiate the irrational and the incomprehensible.  Not to reconcile with those things."

For Better or for Worse

"I don't plot anything out.  I don't have an outline, for better or for worse.  I've tried, but I feel that kind of hems me in."

a poem is published when it's read

Storytelling Is How We're Moved

"The reason we tell stories, to judge from what I have seen among traditional people, is to keep each other from being afraid.  We tell stories and write poems, historically, to keep awe and aspiration and comprehension and the other components of hopeful lives bright in each other's hearts.  Storytelling is how we're moved to take care of each other when we recognize how extremely thin the veneer of civilization we cherish is, and how very hard it is to keep that veneer from shredding in the wind."

Language Is Fast

"Kenneth Koch talked about how language is so fast.  You can say, 'Hannibal crossed the Alps,' and it's done.  That's power."