My Past Reclaimed

I didn’t know it at the time, but my misspent youth was planned The training ground for what I’d write, then hard to understand The many schools, the teachers chides, expulsions my reward Postgraduate work for future truth, all voices untoward The risks were high, survival mined, Shangi-La, a vagrant’s room My pen disclaimed, all actions shamed, flat broke one afternoon From the diner’s window I heard the song that turned my life around As Gregg Allman sang ‘Melissa,’ my true destiny was found And today I harbor no regrets, there’s no one left to blame As I write the words for me hard one —my sinful past reclaimed (Strafford Pennsylvania: July, 2019) ‘Thank You, Gregg—I Miss You’