This book is a compilation of years of struggle not just in life but in learning how to hone my craft, such as it is, and create something that I'm assuming others would want to read. When I was honorably discharged from the navy, I found myself in the situation where none of the people I came home to had any idea of what I went through. There was a pressure in my head and my heart that I did not know how to release until I wrote my first poem. I hold feelings in, and I don't know how to articulate what's going on. But that first poem opened a door, and I gladly stepped in. Some of my earliest poems are not in this book because they failed the test of time and several moves and bad choices in storage. Some were rewritten to a certain point or they just diverged as my skills grew. Some are dedicated to my wife, Kerri, and the meeting, greeting, wooing, sharing and the painful exit where I was forced to say goodbye.