Poetry has given me a voice to express the many emotions I am feeling at a particular time. I grew up in the era when children were to be seen and not heard. Childhood was difficult for me because I loved to talk, but I was not allowed or encouraged to address my feelings, nor was I even asked what I thought. I was the youngest child of four for eight years but still the baby girl. By the eleventh year of my life, I was no longer the baby; I became the middle child. People can't comprehend what that did to me, unless they have been there. I always enjoyed talking, which got me into trouble in...

Poetry has given me a voice to express the many emotions I am feeling at a particular time. I grew up in the era when children were to be seen and not heard. Childhood was difficult for me because I loved to talk, but I was not allowed or encouraged to address my feelings, nor was I even asked what I thought. I was the youngest child of four for eight years but still the baby girl. By the eleventh year of my life, I was no longer the baby; I became the middle child. People can't comprehend what that did to me, unless they have been there. I always enjoyed talking, which got me into trouble in...