The first thing I remember saying I wanted to be when I grew up was “a poet.” I was seven then, & I remember the spot where I was on the second-floor balcony over the inner patio of the Casa Evangélica in Pasto, southern Colombia. :-)
As a young adult I didn’t have much confidence in that calling, though, & consequently not much commitment to it. I just wrote once in a while. Only in my midthirties did I begin understanding that I must not neglect poetry because it’s part of who I am. This message came to me through dreams, prayer, & the invitations/encouragement of others.
I am humbled by the work of many poets I admire-e.g., Li-Young Lee, Mary Oliver, Jane Kenyon, Donald Hall, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sharon Olds, Carolyn Forché, Wendell Berry . . . Am just thankful to have an ongoing practice of poetry, writing it, sharing it with others in workshops, & occasionally publishing. In 2004 a small collection, Yellow Doors, was published by WordFarm. It’s available at amazon.com, & you can read a couple of sample poems there if you’re interested. I like to play & try new things, but I am committed to writing poems that are accessible, tell stories, capture a shining moment-so nothing is super-bizarre or off the edge. I think of my poems as paintings & seek to engage all the senses—yep, even smell!
