I Have A High Guilt Quotient. A

Under Adversity, Under Oppression, The Words Begin To Fail, The Easy Words Begin To Fail. In Order To Convey Things Accurately, The Human Being Is Almost Forced To Find The Most Precise Words Possible, Which Is A Precondition For Literature.

Don't Be So Fast, You're All You've Got.

I Wish Someone Had Told Me That My Stories Are Really Mine To Tell. In Other Words, Anything That I Think Is Important Or That Has Moved Me Has The Ability To Move Somebody Else.

I Keep The Drafts Of Each Poem In Color-coded Folders. I Pick Up The Folders According To How I Feel About That Color That Day.

People Write Me From All Over The Country, Asking Me, And Sometimes Even Telling Me, What They Think A Poet Laureate Should Do. I Found That Immensely Valuable.