Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure. Mark Strand

I suppose as I'm explaining myself to others, I'm quintessentially explaining myself to myself. Gerald Stern

My poems, I think, exist in a state of tension between the love of natural beauty and the fear of natural meaninglessness or absurdity. Hayden Carruth

Good writing gives energy, whatever it is about. But the fact that writers are dealing with essential issues...I think that's a necessary integration of literary writing with what's actually going on in our world. - Marilyn Hacker

I don't want to write poems that aren't necessary. - Maxine Kumin

I am a poet who is a woman, not a woman poet. - Ruth Fainlight

A reckless tumble of words mixing the high and the low, like a rummage sale after the death of someone who adored both Shakespeare and smut. Norman Mailer

Hirshfield's poems renew, reaffirm the power of language to move deeply, to articulate experience precisely. - The Antioch Review

A large, ironic Whitman of the industrial heartland - Edward Hirsch

My father could only sign/His name, but he'd look at blueprints/& say how many bricks/ Formed each wall - My Father's Letters, Yusef Komunyakaa

I try to honor my reader's patience and generosity by presenting what I have to say as clearly and succinctly as possible. - Ted Kooser

Poetry is a way of living...a human activity like baking bread or playing basketball. - Robert Hass