purpose

"Is Prayer Only for the Living? III [10w] Do angels pray to God to intercede on mankind's behalf?"

"Embittered [10w] "His heart blistered like paint peeling from an old rig."

"Off the Hook True story...A cop pulls me over for speeding.He says, "What's the hurry?"I say, "I'm running awayfrom a bad marriage."He laughs and says, "Drive carefully."The officer lets me go.Beyond the practical lesson thatmaking a policeman laugh may get you off the hook,there's a certain poetry here in the unexpected connection ~for what is a poemif not a moment of surpriseworth retelling."

"God vs. Satan [10w] Why can't God and Satan get along?They're both detail-oriented."

"There's sometimes a tugging feeling you get to push further when you aren't being challenged enough or when things get too comfortable."

"It is not a single cowardice that drives us into fiction's fantasies. We often fear that literature is a game we can't afford to play — the product of idleness and immoral ease. In the grip of that feeling it isn't life we pursue, but the point and purpose of life — its facility, its use."

"The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are going."

"A Dream Come True [10w] A dream come true is a nightmare in the making."

"Fate [10w] The eternal point where our dreams intersect is called fate."

"Somalia Haiku For a Somalian, heaven's drawing water from a well in an earthen pot."

"What Teenage Boys Do On Their Computer All Day [10w] ctrl alt delete ex-girlfriendcut paste Penelope Cruzpost Facebook"

"Committees [10w] A committee sits in a rectangle and talks in circles."

"It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere."

"Nothing is more creative... nor destructive... than a brilliant mind with a purpose."

"Got Hate? When a hater cozily whispers shit in your ear about them,what does that say about you?"

"Dangerous Food [10w] The world's most fattening foods are the ones you swallow."

"A Poem Must Have an Accomplice If you cannot bamboozle the reader into becoming a willing accomplice to your artifice and collusion the poem won't fly."

"The Poet is God When a poem's words perfectly fit,it has legs.When they communicate well,it has a voice.When they make you think,it has a mind.When the make you feel,it has a heart.Think about it.When you write a poem,you've created a person,with a distinct identityand an immortal soulthat you send out into the worldto possibly change the world.Now you know what it feels liketo be God."

"Publisher's Persuasion "You're much too good a writer to want a six figure advance. You don't want your readers to think you're only writing for money ~ do you?"

"Art has always been the raft onto which we climb to save our sanity. I don't see a different purpose for it now."