The Sparrows Are Preparing For

I Started Out Thinking Of America As Highways And State Lines. As I Got To Know It Better, I Began To Think Of It As Rivers.

I Could Tell You Which Writer's Rhythms I Am Imitating. It's Not Exactly Plagiarism, It's Falling In Love With Good Language And Trying To Imitate It.

I Had A Little Insight Into Life That Most Kids Probably Didn't Have. My Mother Was A Schoolteacher, And My Father Was A Social Worker. Through His Eyes I Saw The Underside Of Society.

It Was Cold Out There, Bitter, Biting, Cutting, Piercing, Hyperborean, Marmoreal Cold, And There Were All These Minnesotans Running Around Outdoors, Happy As Lambs In The Spring.

I Wasn't A Very Discriminating Reader. I Read Just About Everything That Came Along.