“Being good felt like a heavy coat, so I took it off.”

“I knew what slant of light would make you turn over. It was then I felt the highways slide out of my hands. I remembered the old men in the west side cafe, dealing dominoes like magical charms.”

“I am looking for the human who admits his flawsWho shocks the adversaryBy being kinder not strongerWhat would that be like?We don't even know”

“Sometimes a bus ride was all it took to feel better.”

“I think of a poem as being deeper than headline news.”

“You're just setting yourself up for pain and anguish if you do something like that."But pain and anguish were everywhere anyway. Might as well put them to good use.”

“Boy and EggEvery few minutes, he wantsto march the trail of flattened rye grassback to the house of mutteringhens. He too could makea bed in hay. Yesterday the egg so freshit felt hot in his hand and he pressed itto his ear while the other childrenlaughed and ran with a ball, leaving him,so little yet, too forgetful in games,ready to cry if the ball brushed him,riveted to the secret of birdscaught up inside his fist,not ready to give it overto the refrigeratoror the rest of the day.”