My Favorite Poets May Not Be Your

It's The Combination Of The Intimate And The Public That I Find So Exciting About Being Poet Laureate.

I Think Reading Shakespeare's Plays When I Was Young Was Extremely Important. He Had The Ability To Make Utter Strangers Come Alive.

If They Don't Read, If They Don't Love Reading; If They Don't Find Themselves Compulsively Reading, I Don't Think They're Really A Writer

If I Begin Writing A Poem That Means I'm Intrigued In Some Way By Whatever It's About And That If I'm Not Trying To Find Something New And Pushing The Envelope In The Poem I Can't Expect My Reader To Be Particularly Excited About It Either.

I'm Never Quite Sure How The Poem Is Going To Resolve Itself And That I'm Always In Some Way Surprised. I Make A Discovery In A Poem As I Write It.