I tend to be a pretty spacey and scattered person, so anything that makes me feel "grounded" comes as a welcome relief.

I don't like speed. I would have made a terrible Futurist. Even when I did take drugs, I never liked amphetamines and much preferred the slow taffy-pull of time that you get with opiates.

I tend to like poems that are short as well as funny. I love Joe Brainard and Aram Saroyan. And I think their sense of humor and minimalist approach are pretty radical.

In a machine, every part has a function. In a poem, every word needs to be there.

I like to look at the interface between words and pictures and wonder about which comes first, a sort of chicken-or-egg type of question.

The earth has always supported me in all my endeavors. I trust it.

I think the more stability a person has, the more they can follow esoteric or intellectual pursuits.

The inner and outer, the visible and invisible, the abstract and concrete - you've got to get the balance right (not that I do, but it's something to aim for).

Technology sounds quick and easy, but it ends up taking up too much of your time.

Sometimes you get lit students that know a lot about the canon but virtually nothing about contemporary poetry and vice versa. I like to mix things up.

When I shut off the verbal, I like to escape into the visual.

Life is in different stages. Every stage of life is the foundation for the next stage of life.Every stage of live must be fully-lived.

When we harm others we harm ourselves

He is rich who owes nothing.

I think, though, as African-American women, we are always trained to value our community even at the expense of ourselves, and so we attempt to protect the African-American community.

Making a good music video isn't easy. If it were, MTV would still be showing them instead of '16 and Pregnant,' which I assume is shot exclusively in Utah.

Pale ink is better than the most retentive memory.

Happy people have no history.

I started acting because I was miserable and crazy and wanted to be someone else, to run around and scream in front of people without getting in trouble.

Your ability to work with people directly affects your ability to get work done in the world.

I don't get no respect, no respect at all!