Caresses and Wounds

I was born and raised in New York City attending the public schools there--a pretty typical kid gabby and obnoxious who loved to play with his friends. But when I was eight years old my four-year-old sister Carole Anne was diagnosed with liver cancer. We watched her wither away to a living skeleton then die in agony. The soul of our family was shattered. The poetry I began writing as an adolescent seeped from that grieving wound expressed that stark alienation. And thats where my essential self remained until as a 32-year old atheist my soul was suddenly cracked open. I experienced an overwhelming mystical awakening which forever changed my life.Well before this great turning point Id graduated from Queens College N. Y. earning a B.A. In Creative Writing while winning a couple of literary awards: The Dwight V. Durling Poetry Prize and The Peter Pauper Press Award. I was also very active in college theater playing several leading roles. Prior to graduating however I dropped out for a while studied acting at HB Studios in Greenwich Village then served in the U.S. Army Military Police gaining an honorable discharge. Eventually I moved to Kansas City Mo. completing most classes toward a Masters in English Lit. at UMKC but not taking a degree. Except for three years in the St. Louis area Ive lived in Kansas City ever since.