EXCERPT FROM THE INTERVIEW

As a child, you have this great capacity for wonderment, and you ask all of these very simple questions that you never think to ask when you’re an adult, like where does the wind come from and why is the sky blue? Poetry gets us back to that frame of mind, and for that reason it belongs in the streets, it belongs in schools, it should be something that kids consider friendly. It may be possible to redefine America with poetry and do so in a way that’s jubilant, optimistic and very powerful.