Sometimes it takes hours to write a sentence. Sometimes it takes no time to finish a poem. Inspiration cannot be controlled. It comes when it comes, and it can happen at the most inconvenient time.
I met Li-Yong Lee at the Squaw Valley Writers Conference in 2001, when he was one of the faculty poets. We found a little time to chat at the baseball field, waiting in line for Galway Kinnell to teach us klutz how to bat. Lee told me he worked in a warehouse during the day, stacking boxes. He wanted a job that did not require thinking. Being available when the muse visits is part of an artist’s life.
