“[P]art of the pleasure of engaging with a writer is unraveling some allusions and admitting defeat by others.”

“[P]art of the pleasure of engaging with a writer is unraveling some allusions and admitting defeat by others.”

“My mother was a washerwoman - or a woman that cleaned houses in Texas... in Plano, Texas - who always loved poetry and always loved stories.”

“The banner of the project is 'Casa de Colores.' Under that banner, I'm going to invite people to do a lot of good things. Perhaps working in groups, working on poetry.”

“Poetry, as odd as it is, and as hard to figure out as it is, many times, it's almost something that we're used to. It's kind of like a dream language that we had centuries ago, so that when we speak poetically or write a poem about what's going on, a real difficult issue that's facing our communities, people listen.”

“San Diego shaped me a lot. The visual landscapes, the emotional panoramas, the teachers and mentors I had from the third grade through San Diego High - it's all a big part of the poetry fountain that I continue to drink from.”

“I gave my voice to poetry.”

“Poetry can tell us about what's going on in our lives - not only our personal but our social and political lives.”

“Let's detox our cluttered academic brain. That's what the poet does. People call it daydreaming, detoxing our minds and taking care of that clutter. It's being able to let in call letters from the poetry universe.”

“Poetry is a call to action, and it also is action.”

“We have a great country, we are a great nation - let us trust in it.”