From the Archive: First Poem! c.1981

A Quick Backstory

Somewhere in my late teens I wrote, or channeled, my first poem. I had zero interest, and little schooling, in poetry. From this beginning, poems spontaneously poured out of me in finished form. At seemingly random times and without titles. My style was consistent out of the gate and the poems read well as continuous text. As I accumulated dozens of poems, book titles appeared. Final instructions I received: arrange the poems in reverse chronological order—and the books into trilogies.

From: Weird White Words
(Trilogy 1, Book 1, circa 1981)

once there was life
but there is no more

for we are one
but are now gone

there must be a way
to sit in the hay
and not get stung
but there is none
for we all must die

and on it goes

we sit and wonder
what is life
as it passes before our eyes
we will never know
because we are children

occasionally I am happy
but it is rare
because I always ask,
what is it?

Asking will not
answer the question
but I continue asking
because I really
don't wish to know.

Untitled, page 80

*Poems in complete trilogies are untitled. Rarely is a title included with the writing of a poem. Each book is designed to be a continuous read with poems flowing into each other—unbroken by individual poem titles. In most cases, poems are named for individual publication only.