"That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if not directly by the person, certainly by the enterprise of the poet himself, working with his friends."

"The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a partial assurance."

"Even if you walk exactly the same route each time - as with a sonnet - the events along the route cannot be imagined to be the same from day to day, as the poet's health, sight, his anticipations, moods, fears, thoughts cannot be the same."

"Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience."

"An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very exciting, unstable, and interactive."

"American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet."

"The blood jet is poetry and there is no stopping it."

"Freedom is poetry, taking liberties with words, breaking the rules of normal speech, violating common sense. Freedom is violence."