A poet, to whom no one cruel or imposing listens, Disdained by senates, whispers to your dust.

- Carolyn Kizer

Our masks, always in peril of smearing or cracking, in need of continuous check in the mirror or silverware, keep us in thrall to ourselves, concerne…

- Carolyn Kizer

I happen to believe that there are a lot of good poets around at present, but a poet like Alex Kuo, who possesses a highly developed moral sense and …

- Carolyn Kizer

Poets are interested mostly in death and commas.

- Carolyn Kizer

What is so marvelous about living today is that it is possible to extend, like a flower, spreading petals in all directions.

- Carolyn Kizer

In some ways painters have been more important in my life than writers. Painters teach you how to see—a faculty that usually isn’t highly developed i…

- Carolyn Kizer

We live in wonder, blaze in a cycle of passion and apprehension.

- Carolyn Kizer

You write for the people in high school who ignored you. We all do.

- Carolyn Kizer

He said, "You have pigs in this poem; pigs are not poetic." I got up and walked out of that class and never went back.

- Carolyn Kizer