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.