37 Quotes by James Tate

I couldn’t even picture Mavis’s face anymore. It was sad. She was being erased. I wanted to put my finger on her forehead, but there was nothing there.

He is being nibbled to death by ducks.--More Later, Less the Same

When people start talking about enjambment and line endings, I always shut them up. This is not something to talk about, this is a private matter, it's up to the poet.

We believe that he knew who he was shooting at, but again, bullets don?t have names on them.

We're looking for folks to pay their fair share for services -- it's not just police, but also fire and other services the city provides.

The challenge is always to find the ultimate in the ordinary horseshit.

Something should always change in a poem. The persona should learn something.

William Waltz will take me through 'the buzz and clamor in a forest of hearts.' Adventures in the Lost Interiors of America is an adventure, I will go on this adventure with Waltz as a skillful, faithful, compass-true guide. I love this book.

In You Are Not Dead Wendy Xu breaks all the old rules that have never done us any favors anyway. She writes beautifully, noticing who we are, and letting us see ourselves with a little more humanity, a little more humor, a little more humility. I'm happy to have read this book.