The poem, even a short time after being written, 

seems no miracle; unwritten, it seems 

something beyond the capacity of the gods.



                          *



Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of 

haste. It's what everything else isn't.



                          *



You can't make poetry simply by avoiding clichés.



                          *



There's a point where plainness is no longer a virtue, 

when it becomes excessively bald, wrenched.



                          *

							

You must believe: a poem is a holy thing -- a good poem, 

that is.