“Good writing works from a simple premise: your experience is not yours alone, but in some sense a metaphor for everyone's.”

“You are not your poetry. Your self-esteem shouldn't depend on whether you publish, or whether some editor or writer you admire thinks you're any good.”

“Writing and reading are the only ways to find your voice. It won't magically burst forth in your poems the next time you sit down to write, or the next; but little by little, as you become aware of more choices and begin to make them -- consciously and unconsciously -- your style will develop.”

“Every poem I write falls short in some important way. But I go on trying to write the one that won’t. ”

“Who you are contributes to your poetry in a number of important ways, but you shouldn't identify with your poems so closely that when they are cut, you're the one that bleeds.”

“That's how it is sometimes--God comes to your window, all bright light and black wings, and you're just too tired to open it.”

“Every good poem asks a question, and every good poet asks every question.”