“I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way.”

“In the convent, y'all,I tend the gardens,watch things grow,pray for the immortal soulof rock 'n' roll. They call meSister Presley here,The Reverend Motherdigs the way I move my hipsjust like my brother. Gregorian chantdrifts out across the herbsPascha nostrum immolatus est...I wear a simple habit,darkish hues, a wimple with a novice-sewnlace band, a rosary,a chain of keys,a pair of good and sturdyblue suede shoes. I think of itas Graceland here,a land of grace.It puts my trademark slow lopsided smileback on my face. Lawdy.I'm alive and well.Long time since I walkeddown Lonely Streettowards Heartbreak Hotel.- Elvis's Twin Sister”

“I like pouring your tea, liftingthe heavy pot, and tipping it up,so the fragrant liquid streams in your china cup.Or when you’re away, or at work,I like to think of your cupped hands as you sip,as you sip, of the faint half-smile of your lips.I like the questions – sugar? – milk? –and the answers I don’t know by heart, yet,for I see your soul in your eyes, and I forget.Jasmine, Gunpowder, Assam, Earl Grey, Ceylon,I love tea’s names. Which tea would you like? I saybut it’s any tea for you, please, any time of day,as the women harvest the slopesfor the sweetest leaves, on Mount Wu-Yi,and I am your lover, smitten, straining your tea.- Tea”

“The Latin names of plants blur like belief.”

“You have me like a drawing, erased, coloured in, untitled, signed by your tongue.”

“Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning.”

“Went to the Zoo, I said to Him- Something about that chimpanzee over there reminds me of you.”