No One Here Likes A Wet Dog.

I Always Think W.s. Merwin's Poems Will Last Of Anyone Writing Today. If I Had To Bet On Posterity I Would Bet Merwin. My Poems Could Easily Evaporate. So I Don't Know. If You Find Yourself As A Writer Thinking About Posterity You Should Probably Go Out For A Brisk Walk Or Something.

But My Heart Is Always Propped Up In A Field On Its Tripod, Ready For The Next Arrow.

To Write Poetry Is To Be Very Alone, But You Always Have The Company Of Your Influences. But You Also Have The Company Of The Form Itself, Which Has A Kind Of Consciousness. I Mean, The Sonnet Will Simply Tell You, That's Too Many Syllables Or That's Too Many Lines Or That's The Wrong Place. So, Instead Of Being Alone, You're In Dialogue With The Form.

Part Of Writing Is Discovering The Rules Of The Game And Then Deciding Whether To Follow The Rules Or To Break Them. The Great Thing About The Game Of Poetry Is That It's Always Your Turn - I Guess That Goes Back To My Being An Only Child. So Once It's Under Way, There Is A Sense Of Flow.

Some Difficulty Is Warranted And Other Difficulty I Think Is Gratuitous. And I Think I Can Tell The Difference. There Are Certainly Very Difficult Poets That I Really Enjoy Reading.