Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to talk with children, to teachers, and make sure they get poetry in the curriculum early. – Rita Dove

The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and Ive seen ecstasy or something. – Rita Dove

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding. – Rita Dove