When You Finish A Poem, It Clicks

Maybe There Are Three Or Four Really Good Poets In A Generation.

I've Had Trouble With Criticism, I Guess. It's Hard To Know What Role Criticism Plays In Either Encouraging Poets Or In Getting Other People To Read Them.

It's Enormously Cheering To Get A Good Review By Someone Who Seems To Understand Your Work.

I Got Married, Other People Went Off. We Had Sort Of Another Public-we Were Our Entire Readership For Many Years, And We Were Very Excited By Each Other.

I Wonder If I Ever Thought Of An Ideal Reader... I Guess When I Was In My 20s And In New York And Maybe Even In My Early 30s, I Would Write For My Wife Janice... Mainly For My Poet Friends And My Wife, Who Was Very Smart About Poetry.