Recently I had a conversation with a young poet about writing, and I began by asking her what she is reading, and what she considers her greatest influences. She said she didn’t want to be influenced, she wants to find her own voice. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Rustum Kozain about eight years ago. I asked him to read and review my first collection of poetry, Taller than Buildings, and his first question to me was “who are your influences?” I said I didn’t know, I was trying to find my own voice. He persisted, “but who do you want to sound like, who do you admire?”