Poetry is a string of words that parades without a permit.

Walking. I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.

Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing.

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

tears have a purpose. they are what we carry of the ocean, and perhaps we must become the sea, give ourselves to it, if we are to be transformed.

We make art out of our loss.

It is a paradox in the contemporary world that in our desire for peace we must willingly give ourselves to struggle.

Poetry has its own laws speaking for the life of the planet. It is a language that wants to bring back together what the other words have torn apart.

The crocodile doesn't harm the bird that cleans his teeth for him. He eats the others but not that one.

Mystery is part of each life, and maybe it is healthier to uphold it than to spend a lifetime in search of half-made answers.

Telling about our lives is important for those who come after as, for those who will see our experience as part of their own historical struggle.

Freedom is something that you give yourself and no one else can ever take away.

The amazing thing is nobody has to believe in anything all they have to do is be wiling to try.

In a little town, there are many mouths which talk, and very few heads which think.

Our history is an inevitable component of our being. One thing only can release us from the grip of our history. That one thing is forgiveness.

Heart disease is a foodborne illness.

My roots, my background and the way I act is working class, but it would be hypsocritical to say I'm anything else than middle class now.

Blood hardly defines one's character. We are made by our actions, not our blood. - Soren

"Confessional poetry" is another one of those labels. It goes in and out of fashion.

The Brigham Young University (BYU) campus was just a few blocks from my home and tuition was minimal.

I try to watch only real things, which basically amounts to C-Span for me. I like real people in real situations. I learn from that.