A poem is a naked person . . . Some people say that I am a poet.

A poem may be worked over once it is in being, but may not be worried into being.

Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.

I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.

Poetry is the renewal of words, setting them free, and that's what a poet is doing: loosening the words.

Every poem is a momentary stay against the confusion of the world.