If You Have The Material It Will

I Come To The Understanding That Maybe What Was On The Inside Was More Important, And That Your Outer Covering Didn't Count So Much As Folks Thought It Did, Colored Or White, Man Or Woman.

It Was Always So Hot, And Everyone Was So Polite, And Everything Was All Surface But Underneath It Was Like A Bomb Waiting To Go Off. I Always Felt That Way About The South, That Beneath The Smiles And Southern Hospitality And Politeness Were A Lot Of Guns And Liquor And Secrets.

My Black Friends Never Asked Me How Much Money I Made, Or What School My Children Went To, Or Anything Like That. They Just Said, "come As You Are."

If You Have The Material It Will Form Itself As A Kind Of Connective Tissue.

I'm A Better Musician Now, And I Rarely Practice Because Age Has Taught Me The Value Of Economy. And I Think I'm A Better Writer Now Because I Don't Waste As Much Time, Dilly-dallying And Sassafrassin' And Sloop And Sloppin' And Frying Eggs. When You Start Writing, Half The Time You're Just Saying Howdy To The Page. My Process Now Is A Little More Lean And Muscular. I Don't Waste A Lot Of Time. When I Had Kids, I Learned How Much Time I Had Before, And How Much Time You Actually Need To Do Something. If You Don't Have Time, You'll Just Do It And Get It Done.