Some of my favorite poets had a tremendous sense of whimsy, so it's a writing style I guess I admire.

Lots of people have gone from public housing to do great things in the world and have a tremendous sense of duty to their fellow man because of it.

I guess I'm a Gemini through and through, but I'm mercurial. I get bored doing the same things.

I'm becoming more and more myself with time. I guess that's what grace is. The refinement of your soul through time.

I defer to all these other American poets who, for some reason, I both envy and admire.

The poet or the revolutionary is there to articulate the necessity, but until the people themselves apprehend it, nothing can happen ... Perhaps it can't be done without the poet, but it certainly can't be done without the people. The poet and the people get on generally very badly, and yet they need each other. The poet knows it sooner than the people do. The people usually know it after the poet is dead; but that's all right. The point is to get your work done, and your work is to change the world.