This book is a compilation of years of struggle without proper supervision. I did use the computer and the library, and one poetry class in college, for help. There was information that was above my head and some Poetry Introduction for Dummies. Some of my earliest poems won’t appear in my work. Some were rewritten and some didn’t survive the many moves over the years. Also, over the years the political chaos has colored what I write. The entrance of my wife, and her sudden, tragic, death changed me and how I write forever. I also cannot ignore, or mitigate, the influence our four-pawed roommates had on my writing.