I sit with beginnings and endings every week. I spend time with high school teenagers who are relentlessly preparing themselves for their launch into the world and their independent lives. I also spend time with hospice patients who are reflecting on their time in this world as their lives wind down and they prepare for their final departure. 

I have been writing poetry since I was in college. In my junior year, there was a poetry class at a time slot that worked for me, so I took it for the fun of it. That class hooked me on verse and taught me how to appreciate poetry. I took that class for fun, not expecting much out of it. It ended up opening a whole new world for me. I have been reading and writing poetry regularly ever since.