I Don't Think Of Myself All The

When I Talk Of Hearing A Poet's Voice Speaking, I Always Think Of It As In The Presence Of The Man.

I Learned Words, I Learned Words; But Half Of Them Died From Lack Of Exercise. And The Ones I Use Often Look At Me With A Look That Whispers, Liar.

In Fact A Lot Of Them I Think Are Absolute Baloney. Those Charles Olsens And People Like That. At First I Was Interested In Seeing What They Were Up To, What They Were Doing, Why They Were Doing It. They Never Moved Me In The Way That One Is Moved By True Poetry.

I Never Think About Poetry Except When I'm Writing It. I Mean My Poetry.

And Some Poets Are Far Better Read Off The Page Because They're Very Bad Speakers. I'm Thinking Of One In Particular Whom I Won't Name, A Good Poet, And He Reads In Such A Dry, Boring Way, Your Eyes Start Drooping.