Writing a Life

This is a book of poetry written over a lifetime. It begins with a "first poem" I wrote to meet an assignment give by Miss Downs, my teacher in the one-room school in the middle of Illinois farmland. I had no idea what poetry was, but she introduced us to the structure and concept. I struggled! Later in life, I turned to writing to solve my problems, to analyze, compare, dissect, rationalize... I found I loved the feeling of pen on paper. Writing seemed a way to access my mind, to understand, to generate. I love that process still. I have boxes filled with journals, ramblings, records, stories...and poems...accumulated over more than 50 years. The process of "mining" that store has been rich and affirming. I think of it as a reverse road map. This is how I became who I am! A few years ago I toyed with the idea of tossing them all out. Was I sure I would want my descendants to find what they hold? But I didn't. How glad I am that I did not!This is my offering to others who might find the example helpful, who might find a tool for relating to self, to understanding their own mysteries and process.