Sometimes they come out backwards.

Sometimes they come out almost done.

And I realize I've been writing it for a long time.

And so by the time I got to the page, it's complete.

And then sometimes it takes me months, even years, to finish a poem.

From the TED Audio Collective,

this is Design Matters with Debbie Milman.

On Design Matters, Debbie talks with some of the most creative people in the world

about what they do, how they got to be who they are,

and what they're thinking about and working on.

On this episode, a conversation with Ada Limon about how she became a poet and the power

of poetry to bring people together.

Oh, there are other people that feel this way.

Ada Limon is the author of seven books of poetry, including The Carrying, which won the National Book Critic Circle Award, and Bright Dead Things, a finalist for the National Book Award. Her most recent poetry collection is startlement, new and selected poems.

In 2022, Ada was named the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

She served in that role for three years, bringing poetry into classrooms, libraries, and national parks across the country. Her many honors include a MacArthur Fellowship,

a Guggenheim Fellowship, and she was named one of Time Magazine's Women of the Year in

24 for being an extraordinary leader who was working toward a more equal world. Her brand new book is titled Against Breaking on the

Power of Poetry. Ada Limon, welcome to Design Matters. Thank you so much for having me. It's a

pleasure to be here. Ada, you grew up in Glen Ellen in Sonoma Valley across from the Calabasas Creek in a landscape of hills, horses, and open land.

Yet your pet of choice was a mouse you named Fred.

Yes, I did have a mouse named Fred. Tell us how you came to own Fred. Yes, I did have a mouse named Fred. Tell us how you came to own Fred. You know, when my parents

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