Being Poet Laureate Made Me Realize I

I Was Apprehensive. I Feared Every Time I Talked About Poetry, It Would Be Filtered Through The Lens Of Race, Sex, And Age.

I Try To Show What It Is About Language And Music That Enthralls, Because I Think Those Are The Two Elements Of Poetry.

The Poetry That Sustains Me Is When I Feel That, For A Minute, The Clouds Have Parted And I've Seen Ecstasy Or Something

In Fact, Sometimes Traveling The World Is A Way Of Not Writing A Poem, But It's The Quality Of Experience. It's Being Able To Experience Something And When You Begin To Write About It Be Able To Apply The Tools That You Need For Writing.

Crassly Put: When I Write, I Am Trying Not To Bore Myself And My Readers.