I always voted at my party's call and I never thought of thinking for myself at all.

It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent thoughtful schoolchildren.

This career essentially chased me down while I was on the spoken-word scene in New York. I kept hearing that my delivery of my poetry - which was very personal and cathartic at the time- was very moving to folks. People thought that I was an actress because of my delivery when I was just dropping into the work and really pouring out my soul.

I'd always loved poetry and I'd always loved writing music and composing music but I hadn't thought of putting the two together until around that time.

I thought we were gonna open up the world of poetry and music to all kinds of things and yet I can't really think of anyone who's done anything like it since.

I wonder if I ever thought of an ideal reader... I guess when I was in my 20s and in New York and maybe even in my early 30s I would write for my wife Janice... mainly for my poet friends and my wife who was very smart about poetry.

As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of old inwardly its poetry is much deeper.

I was always making up rhymes. But I never thought that poetry would become my life.

I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do.

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous.