Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fire blazes. No one ever thanked him.

As you continue writing and rewriting, you begin to see possibilities you hadn't seen before. Writing a poem is always a process of discovery.

Art is not escape, but a way of finding order in chaos, a way of confronting life.

I believe it's true that one person can make a difference. But how much more difference 100 people make, or rather 99.

We must not be frightened nor cajoled into accepting evil as deliverance from evil. We must go on struggling to be human, though monsters of abstractions police and threaten us.

This freedom, this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air, usable as earth.

[My poetry is] a way of coming to grips with reality . . . a way of discovery and definition. It is a way of solving for the unknowns.

As well have a talon as a finger, a muzzle as a mouth, as well have a hollow as a heart.

Your presence was shore where I rested/ released from the hoodoo of that dance, where I spoke/ with my true voice again.

Harriet Tubman, woman of earth, whipscarred, a summoning, a shinning

It seemed to me as we were talking about Christ rising from the dead, the sun popped over the mountain. That was indicative of Christ rising - a new day. It just makes sense.

There is no sharper spear than wisdom.There is no larger shield than faith.There is no better fortress than truth.There is no greater strength than hope.There is no higher power than love.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.

The secret of a happy life is respect. Respect for yourself and respect for others.

I deplore the shying away that can go on, within women, from the term 'feminist.' I am, absolutely, all about being a feminist.

Poetry -- even bad poetry -- may be our final hope.

It never rains in Manchester, but it pours

Living fearlessly is not the same as never being afraid. It's good to be afraid occasionally. Fear is a great teacher.

Sometimes a man has to cry. Even if he is a man.

The essence of effective portfolio construction is the use of a large number of poorly correlated assets.