"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."

"I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of articles, theses, and textbooks that mean to share insight concerning the nature of poetry."

"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."

"Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more often directed to lesser than to greater values."

"Hunting, fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment. Cares I knew not, and cared naught about them."

"I only want to make music because I have a passion for it."

"New Orleans, more than many places I know, actually tangibly lives its culture. It's not just a residual of life it's a part of life. Music is at every major milestone of our life: birth, marriage, death. It's our culture."

"Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music."