In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man     Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round; And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And … More Xanadu I

In mist on country roads from Maringouin I went to a meeting at Southern University in Baton Rouge, an interesting place I do not go often enough, and that is black and so gives relief from white fatigue. I had stopped on the way to get my yard sign that says JOHN BEL EDWARDS, GOVERNOR … More La Louisiane

I think most poets of a high calibre work in this way to some degree or other—typically hearing first lines of poems simply come into their head, sometimes even as heard voices, successively followed by a flow of words, lines, and passages that come as naturally as leaves to a tree, and are imbued with … More On sound in poetry