I Write Poems To Find Out Why

Adolescence Is A Dreadful Period. We Tend To Notice Those Youngsters Who Misbehave And Call Attention To Themselves, But There Are Others, Equally Miserable, Who Receive No Help Simply Because They Are Silent. (41)

I Can't Believe There Is A Poet Who Hasn't Eagerly Put Down A Word One Day, Only To Erase It The Next Day Deciding It Was Sheer Lunacy. It's Part Of The Process Of Selection.

I Remember Coming Upon Philip Larkin In My 20s In The Early '60s And When Sylvia Plath's "ariel" Came Out It Knocked Me Off My Feet.

I Had A Period When I Read Nobel Prize Winners. I Figured They Had To Be Good. I Discovered Some People I Didn't Know About, Like The Icelandic Writer Halldor Laxness, Who Wrote "independent People." .

They Are Asleep. This Is The Condition They Prefer. They Are Afraid Of The World And Sleep Is A Way Of Dealing With Their Fear. Someday They Will Wake. Perhaps Something Frightful Will Happen. Indeed, There Is No Better Invitation To The Frightful Than Ignorance - That Is, Sleep. (29)