When I Was Young, I

The First Book: Go Ahead, It Won't Bite. Well... Maybe A Little. More A Nip, Like. A Tingle. It's Pleasurable, Really. You See, It Keeps On Opening. You May Fall In. Sure, It's Hard To Get Started; Remember Learning To Use Knife And Fork? Dig In: You'll Never Reach Bottom. It's Not Like It's The End Of The World -- Just The World As You Think You Know It.

What Is Ironic Is That Allen Ginsberg's Importance Was In Its Twilight For So Many Years That It Took His Death To Bring It To The Front Page. He Electrified An Entire World!

I Was Appointed Poet Laureate. It Came Totally Out Of The Blue Because Most Poet Laureates Had Been Considerably Older Than I. It Was Not Something That I Even Had Begun To Dream About!

The Poetry That Sustains Me Is When I Feel That, For A Minute, The Clouds Have Parted And I've Seen Ecstasy Or Something

I Have A High Guilt Quotient. A Poem Can Go Through As Many As 50 Or 60 Drafts. It Can Take From A Day To Two Years - Or Longer.