So, she wanted to know if anybody's comments or critiques
about your poems or your writing has ever
upset you enough to give you writer's block.
So for me, for me, no.
But I'm also I think pretty lucky because I
played basketball before.
And so I have a very clear sense of winning and losing.
And so, I mean I really don't worry
about what other people think while I'm writing.
I do know when I'm revising work,
I do know I'm going to have an audience.
And I do know I need to maybe do things in a way that will make
things clearer for my readers.
But I think something that's really important
is while you're writing it, just to make a choice
and say you know what, I have a question about this.
Or I'm not sure about this so I'm
going to put it all down on the page
and see what it means to me.
And then afterward, you can worry
about what your readers are going to think.
And I think it's good to know what
your readers see on the page.
But you're the writer and you're going
to make the final decisions about what's
going on with your work.
But we all get negative criticism.
We all get-- there are people who don't like my book.
There are people who don't like poems.
Or people who say, I don't get it, you know, about things.
And you just have to make a choice
and know that you love doing it more
than you're going to let those people stop you
from doing that.
So.
I mean ever since the book came out last year,
I mean I've received-- people say nice things about it,
and some very terrible things about it.
But my reaction is always the same, you know.
I acknowledge it because if you don't acknowledge,
it's going to eat away at you.
Acknowledge it, and then I dwell with it,
and then I move on, the positive and the negative.
Because even if you dwell on the positive too much,
that also hampers your writing.
You start thinking, oh, I'm good.
And then I'm good, so everything I write is going to be good.
No, no, it's not.
It took me nine years to finish this book.
And I still think I could have made it better
but I just had to let it go.
And also when people criticize my work, my poetry,
I'm usually--
when I read about it online or somebody sends me
a link to a review, I'm usually in an office.
In an air conditioned office in Manhattan or Queens,
teaching somewhere.
Then I remember my father a gardener
working in the desert sun.
Like I can deal with this criticism in the AC,
in the office in New York City.
It's the least of my worries.