Poets deal in writing about feelings and trying to find the language and images for intense feelings.

I still have a feeling that I haven't written the best that I can write. I think all poets must feel this: that there is constantly something new to be discovered in the language. It's like a thrilling encounter, and you can find things.

I'll be left writing picture books and fairy tales.

The poem is a form of texting... it's the original text. It's a perfecting of a feeling in language - it's a way of saying more with less, just as texting is.

Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning.

The poem is the literary form of the 21st century. It's able to connect young people in a deep way to language... it's language as play.