I Listen To Jazz About Three Hours

My Mother Carried On And Supported Us; Her Ambition Had Been To Write Poetry And Songs.

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.

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.

There'll Always Be Working People In My Poems Because I Grew Up With Them, And I Am A Poet Of Memory.

If That Voice That You Created That Is Most Alive In The Poem Isn't Carried Throughout The Whole Poem, Then I Destroy Where It's Not There, And I Reconstruct It So That That Voice Is The Dominant Voice In The Poem.