Most people skip over this portion of the book and get down to the nitty gritty.

Their curiosity and eagerness to critique the long-awaited project keeps them from knowing the inspirations of the author and what the book is all about. For those who actually take the time to read a book cover, its back cover and its contents, this is for you. Why did it take so long for me to share this book with the world? Why do I share it now? How did I come up with the title for it?

Remembering Childhood Poems

Everyone wrote their first poem to their mother as a valentines project in first grade. Remember that white card stock paper with the red and pink construction paper used to cut out hearts to glue on the outside for decoration. The dotted line glued to card stock with that paste that either you were tempted to eat or did eat from time to time. Watching the teacher write neatly on the board this simple poem:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am glad to have a mother like you
Happy Valentines Day!

By the way, I found that card at my mothers house the other day! I thought the rhyming sentences were clever and fun. I thought I was famous after creating that card!

Poetry in Family Life

My daddy would profess his love by leaving my mother little poems on her night stand before leaving for work. I saw her smile and sometimes giggle after reading them. I also heard my daddy reciting poems around the house and I would ask him Where did you get that from? He would say, I wrote it. I was amazed! He wrote it and he memorized it! I would thirst for more. He would recite his poetry while we rode in his truck and he would sing spiritual songs all day long.

Dedication and Loss

After my parents divorce after 26 years of marriage, I wrote and dedicated a poem to him titled Listen Daddy when I was 16. One day, he brought me a burger and gave me child support and I gave him that poem to brighten his spirit. I wanted him to feel the love I still had for him though he wasn't a constant presence in my life any longer. He stood on the porch and read it. He cried. He was happy. He was proud. He shared that poem with many and I in turn, was proud.

My daddy, a poet himself, took his journey to eternal life the night of January 29, 2010. The night was peaceful, still and full of beautiful ice and abundant snow. The meteorologist indicated the moon in the sky that night was the brightest of the year. I thank God for 47 years of my life with him and I will miss his soothing voice and encouraging spirit.

Writing as a Hobby

I considered writing poetry a hobby. I would write them and stash them away in a file or leave in spiral notebooks. I chuckled during this process of deciding which to compile for this book and at what kind of paper I found my poems on: spiraled paper, memo pad paper, the back of inventory sheets, paper bags, typewritten (manual and electric), on thumb drive, hard drive, some are on a diskette that I have no way of getting to.

I recall briefly sharing at events when asked and afterwards, just file them away. I wrote for fashion shows, funerals, weddings, anniversaries, family reunions, class reunions as well as for my pleasure. I had no idea anyone could possibly be interested in my inner thoughts and feelings or how I saw things in the world. Some people knew I wrote but no one really was given my work to read.

Overcoming Fear and Sharing Poetry

Not until a man I was once married to said, Fear is robbing you of your talent. To overcome fear you have to take the chance. What could happen? If you fail, at least you tried. If you don't fail, you'll be living your destiny. Not until I was surrounded by death and began to write about it that I thought I could possibly touch someone during the loss of their loved one. Not until I fell in love and wrote about it that there were people out there that felt the same way. Not until I had broken relationships, I realized that there were peop...