I believe that all poetry is formal in that it exists within limits, limits that are either inherited by tradition or limits that language itself imposes.

It hardly seems worthwhile to point out the shortsightedness of those practitioners who would have us believe that the form of the poem is merely its shape.

Nothing is the destiny of everyone, it is our commonness made dumb.

A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be.

Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments.

Sometimes he did not know if he slept or just thought about sleep.

Even this late it happens: the coming of love, the coming of light.

It's very hard to write humor.

We all have reasons for moving. I move to keep things whole.

I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality.

The reality of a poem is a very ghostly one. It suggests, it suggests, it suggests again.

When we walk in the sun our shadows are like barges of silence.

From the reader's view, a poem is more demanding than prose.

Usually a life turned into a poem is misrepresented.

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.

I haven’t met God and I haven’t been to heaven, so I’m skeptical.

The burial of feelings has begun.

And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem.

When I walk I part the air and always the air moves in to fill the spaces where my body's been.