A poet is not something you become; a poet is something you are..

When I began writing, I didn't read any other children's poets... I didn't want to be influenced until I'd found my own voice. Now I read them all..

I accept challenges, I have always done that in writing..

I keep a guitar around while writing and will improvise music. I do this for several reasons, such as that it's fun, and sometimes it helps me with t….

If you don't believe in dragons, It is curiously true That the dragons you disparage Choose to not believe in you..

Then I decided to draw from and on my own imagination, and everything came out perfect..

I would go to sketch groups and draw. I really enjoyed the subject matter, but I wasn't good at it..

Children seem naturally drawn to poetry - it's some combination of the rhyme, rhythm, and the words themselves..

The BALLPOINT PENGUINS, black and white, Do little else but write and write. Although they've nothing much to say, They write and write it anyway..

My wife used to tell me one of my best qualities was that my feet don't smell, but I remember my brother's did when we were kids..

My reading is extremely eclectic. Lately I've been teaching myself computer graphics, so I'm reading a lot about that. I read books of trivia, of fac….

She comes by night, in fearsome flight, in garments black as pitch, the queen of doom upon her broom, the wild and wicked witch..

I'm working now on a collection of Shakespearean sonnets, about 100 of them, that I may publish if anyone's interested. My take on life is a little d….

I look for poetry in English because it's the only language I read..

I always knew would be some sort of artist, but didn't know what..

I'm mostly influenced by life, what's around me, and my own childhood..

Poetry seems to sink into us the way prose doesn't. I can still quote verses I learned when I was very young, but I have trouble remembering one line….

Writing gives me the opportunity to explore ideas, play with language, solve problems, use my imagination, and draw on my own childhood..

Otherwise I don't read much adult poetry at all, because I'm not smart enough and mostly I don't get it..

His blood is black and boiling hot, he gurgles ghastly groans. He'll cook you in his dinner pot, your skin, your flesh, your bones..

Frankly, writing poetry for children is plain old fun, and I consider myself blessed to have such a delightful career..