I began writing poetry in 2006 after being influenced by the Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park fame. When I read I, Too by Langston Hughes it lit a fire in me and made me realize poetry was a way I could express myself to the world. I began writing five line limericks that gradually evolved into deeper and longer poetry. I won't lie. I never imagined when I first began in 2006 that it would become the passion it did for me. I never imagined I would be published in high school, then college, and finally have 3 poems published in anthologies here. I never quite felt like I deserved these things though. I'm just a shy and quiet guy who has always struggled to articulate how I really feel in vocal form. Poetry was the vehicle that enabled me to speak more deeply than I ever could have otherwise. But for several years I have struggled. I'm never quite satisfied with anything I write. Even the things I share. For every poem I've shared here there are dozens I did not. I began to feel like the rhymes were the same, the messages were the same, and nothing really measured up to things I had written in the past. 

But if I've learned one thing in this life it's to never say never. So while this is intended to be a final work of sorts maybe one day that flame will be relit. But even now as I share this poem I feel like it should be better. But sadly these were the last words I could find. I want to send a special thank you to anyone who has ever read, shared, and commented on my works. I have always greatly appreciated these acts of kindness. And my biggest hope is that maybe my poetry touched people's lives the way that many poems touched mine.