Who am I?

I graduated from Hollins University with an MFA in Creative Writing.

Before that, I was born

in the northeast corner of Illinois

right between Milwaukee & Chicago

near the Lake Michigan shoreline

on a sweaty summer day.

I grew up writing bad poems on a suburban roof

accessed directly from the window

of my childhood bedroom.

It was mostly good until sometimes it wasn’t.

I have been remarkably lucky in this tired, wild world.

Mostly, I’m just a poet.             I know and understand the value of communities built to serve art; I know and understand how communities built to serve art can turn into communities that forget about the people

that art is meant to serve.

So I believe

most fully

that art

beyond anything

should be in service to its community.

Which is the truest thing I know.

Which is how I hope and try to live.