"There is only one way to be prepared for death: to be sated. In the soul, in the heart, in the spirit, in the flesh. To the brim."

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Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most important things are to respect the language; to know the classical rules, even if only to break them; and to be prepared to edit, to revise, to shape.

— Yusef Komunyakaa