Is there a character trait that you consider to be an essential part of your personality; how does that relate to your poetry?
There is always a distinction between the poet and the poem. The poet really creates a personality which is basically the voice that conveys the poem. It really amounts to making up a character much like a novelist makes up twenty characters for a novel or a playwright makes up seven characters for a play. A poet makes up one character for a poem. Often that character speaks in all of the poets' poems. That character is usually a refinement on the person himself. It's a voice that bears more resemblance to the poet than to anyone else in the world, but should not be considered the equivalent of that person.
Gene Myers Interviews Billy Collins