Besides the actual reading in class of many poems I would suggest you do two things: first while teaching everything you can and keeping free of it teach that poetry is a mode of discourse that differs from logical exposition.

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.

I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony.

Deep feeling doesn't make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.

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

I'm quite sure that most writers would sustain real poetry if they could but it takes devotion and talent.

Poetry is one of the destinies of speech... One would say that the poetic image in its newness opens a future to language.

In the world of poetry there are would-be poets workshop poets promising poets lovesick poets university poets and a few real poets.

Those who say we should dismantle the role of Poet Laureate altogether the trick they miss is that being called this thing with the weight of tradition behind it and with the association of the Royal family does allow you to have conversations and to open doors and wallets for the good of poetry in a way that nothing else would allow.

I don't think American poetry has gotten any better in the past 35 years. Oddly enough creative writing programs seem to have been good for fiction and I would not have predicted that.