Don McKay

"Before the wonderful, terrible wrestling with words and music there is the state of mind I'm calling 'poetic attention' ... a sort of readiness ... a form of knowing."

"As I grew older the poetic surround becomes more important. I realize that the 'poetic attention' was more important to me than poetry was. The 'poetic attention' being a kind of longing without the d…"

"The medatative approach acknowledges that one moment will inevitably lead on to the next. We accept immortality instead of fighting it off."

"We inflict our rage for immortality on things, marooning them on static islands."

"Poets are supremely interested in what language can't do , in order to gesture outside, they use language in a way that flirts with its destruction."

"The first indication of one's status as a nature poet is that one does not invoke language right off when talking about poetry."

"Admitting you are a nature poet, nowadays, may make you seem something of a fool!"

"The nature poet may , resort to the field guide or library but will keep coming back , figuratively speaking, to the trail - to the grain of experience."