“The purpose of poetry is to remind us / how difficult it is to remain just one person...”

“The purpose of poetry is to remind ushow difficult it is to remain just one person,for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.”

“The purpose of the poetry is not to dazzle us with an astonishing thought, but to make one moment of existence unforgettable and worthy of unbearable nostalgia.”

“I don't know which is more difficult: going on alone to an unknown destination, or having to remain behind to watch the one you love leave. Those of us who have had to remain behind, we know that it's a cut that never heals...it just continues to bleed--to burn inside of you.”

“Language is the element of definition, the defining and descriptive incantation. It puts the coin between our teeth. It whistles the boat up. It shows us the city of light across the water. Without language there is no poetry, without poetry there’s just talk. Talk is cheap and proves nothing. Poetry is dear and difficult to come by. But it poles us across the river and puts a music in our ears. It moves us to contemplation. And what we contemplate, what we sing our hymns to and offer our prayers to, is what will reincarnate us in the natural world, and what will be our one hope for salvation in the What’sToCome.”

“For now, poetry has the capacity - in its own ways and by its own means - to remind us of something we are forbidden to see.”