The poem . . . is a little myth of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see it is, rather, a light by which we may see and what we see is life."

"The urge to write poetry is like having an itch. When the itch becomes annoying enough, you scratch it."

What is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding? It is the deepest part of autobiography.

How do poems grow? They grow out of your life.

"Poets, we know, are terribly sensitive people, and in my observation one of the things they are most sensitive about is money."