These are certain people even from early childhood who clearly, or murkily—eventually somehow expressed to you they had vision fairly independent of others. Often they have all the thoughts and fine-tune of the artist or the writer, but not the inclination, or time. You became sure of their imaginative and understanding powers; your awareness grew over time. It was even in their gaze.

Keep, keep, keep editing and toying with your work, knowing you are comfortable and believe in what’s on the page. You’re not a poet because it pays six figures starting out—you’re a poet because you feel like you need to be.

"The book tries to understand revolution, but what drives the novel is a filtering of revolutionary actions through the context of myth and the role played by storytelling in the creation of those myths. I became fascinated by the myriad depictions of Villa in the historical record, how he was and remains a remarkably contested figure, and how the outlines of that figure have been determined by stories that seem to channel the desires of a culture and a society through a singular man. Pancho Villa is a mythic character, and I try in the book to convey the manner by which that boy became that myth. "

“While much of my work has a serious tone, I employ humor in my daily life as a way to cope with many things, including stress and illness. If you cannot laugh about your situation, even in some small way, then things are very dark indeed.”

"Poetry has the ability to enact the change that politics promise, sometimes even more powerfully because it disrupts your biases, charges up your emotions, and integrates into the chemistry of your thoughts."

" I cannot always tell which lines are mine in the poems that appear in our books (after some time has passed). I think this shows we have built a collective voice that is different than either one of ours separately."

"The content dictates the form; I do not have a preference. I am simply providing it with the best container; both are mutually mysterious and satisfying."

"Some days are shit. Some days are good. I make notes for stories but only once they’re fairly well formed in my head, and half the time I end up ignoring the notes. None of this matters. People find different ways to work. Inspiration happens but if you have to rely on it you’re probably screwed."

I really love that idea, that we can share a bond with those who came before us (and those who come after, too, I suppose), and that we can read their stories, and also tell our versions of the stories they may not have been able to tell for themselves.  

“Most of my poems simply come out of me; they flow from a constant stream of ideas formulating in the unconscious mind and finding way to the conscious mind.”

“Today I keep deciding to be a writer because I think the stories we tell ourselves, as a culture, are hugely important. It’s how we understand who we are, as a society and as a species. I want to be a part of that conversation.”