Although I Know It's Unfair,

I Don't Let A Poem Go Into The World Unless I Feel That I've Transformed The Experience In Some Way. Even Poems I've Written In The Past That Appear Very Personal Often Are Fictions Of The Personal, Which Nevertheless Reveal Concerns Of Mine. I've Always Thought Of My First-person Speaker As An Amalgam Of Selves, Maybe Of Other People's Experiences As Well.

I've Tried To Become Someone Else For A While, Only To Discover That He, Too, Was Me.

Oh Abstractions Are Just Abstract Until They Have An Ache In Them.

Although I Know It's Unfair, I Reveal Myself One Mask At A Time.

I Love What's Left After Love Has Been Tested.