I see many black males grasping for some thread of hope. There are so many destructive practices, glimpses into a psychic abyss. That must be very frightening.

Next quotes

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, wha

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and lovin

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  Through the years I have seen myself as a peaceful person, but the awareness of the anger is part o

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  Poets are seen as the caretakers of language, so working with words no matter what the form is what

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  I like what Oliver Lakes does on the saxophone. The saxophone comes pretty close to the sound of th

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  I excavate history. I look at lives buried under too much silence. Periods of time, like slavery, h

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  My great-grandfather Melvin had been a carpenter - so was my father - and they taught me the value

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  I'm uncomfortable with the focus on the poet and not on the poem.

• Yusef Komunyakaa:

  I think of my poems as personal and public at the same time. You could say they serve as psychologi