Where I Came From

My mother told me she taught me to talk by reading poetry to me. If I am to believe the story, before I turned three, she had me recite Robert Louis Stevenson's "Rain" on a visit to her favorite college English teacher. But for years I assumed I could read and teach about poetry, but only other people could write poems. Instead, I've been a university English instructor, advertising copywriter, a marketing executive, and a magazine writer.  I was almost 40 before I dared show my solitary poetic efforts to anyone and got serious about learning the art and craft of writing a poem.

Now I love seeing some small detail, especially in the garden or in a wild place I have visited, and turning those specific sensory images into a poetic meditation. I am especially interested in the way we live two lives -- our outer everyday life and the inner thoughts and emotions that others may not see. The joy of that work and the connections I have made with others who share this journey of words have changed my life.

After a childhood in Massachusetts, college in Arkansas and Maine, and 40 years in North Carolina, I love calling Corvallis, Oregon, my home. And I am still learning to love the rain.