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I do think that poetry is important though, if you don’t strive at it, if you don’t fill it full of stars and falseness.

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when Whitman wrote, “I sing the body electric”I know what hemeantI know what hewanted:to be completely alive every momentin spite of the inevitable.we...more

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there are so many dayswhen living stops and pulls up and sitsand waits like a train on the rails.

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When I begin to doubt my ability to work the word, I simply read another writer and know I have nothing to worry about. My contest is only with myself...more

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take a writer away from his typewriterand all you have leftisthe sicknesswhich started himtypingin thebeginning

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Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.

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the impossibility of being humanall too humanthis breathingin and outout and inthese punksthese cowardsthese championsthese mad dogs of glorymoving th...more

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He asked, "What makes a man a writer?" "Well," I said, "it's simple. You either get it down on paper, or jump off a bridge.

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when I am feelinglowall i have to do iswatch my catsand mycouragereturns

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Ya got cigarettes?” she asks. “Yes,” I say,“I got cigarettes.” “Matches?” she asks.“Enough to burn Rome.” “Whiskey?”“Enough whiskey for a Mississippi ...more

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The secret is writing down one simple line after another.

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Don’t ever write a novel unless it hurts like a hot turd coming out

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nothing can save you except writing. it keeps the walls from failing.

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that your power of commandwith simple language wasone of the magnificent things ofour century.(from the poem: result)

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Born into thisInto hospitals which are so expensive that it's cheaper to dieInto lawyers who charge so much it's cheaper to plead guiltyInto a country...more