Many of the poems in this book come from the dark corners of my heart. By giving verbal form to these ideas I hope to be able to at least look at them if not actually confront and diminish them. They reflect many of my regrets, sadness, disappointments (often in myself), and perceptions of the world in which I live. If any reader can identify with some of these ideas, then he or she will know that he or she is not alone. That in itself would make the poems purposeful. In my efforts to become a better human being, I have come across Buddhism. The Buddhist core values of compassion,...