I like to think that I grew up in a house where words were given as gifts. My father always wrote very sweet, romantic love poetry to my mother and gave it to her for her birthday, their anniversary, Valentine’s Day, or for just any occasion. So, it was my father who gave me the idea that words were the most important gift anyone could ever give to someone else.
When I was in kindergarten, I fell in love with Lisa Agostino, the prettiest little girl in the entire school. I knew I had to do something to get her attention, but since I was only five years old, I didn’t have many ideas. I tried bothering her all the time, but that didn’t seem to get the kind of attention I wanted. After a while, I came up with the idea that writing a poem for Lisa just might do the trick. It seemed to work for my father, after all! My mother always made a big commotion and became very “kissy-kissy” whenever my father wrote her a poem! I had one big problem, however. I didn’t know how to write too many words in kindergarten! So, I had to wait until first grade, shortly after I turned seven, to write my first poem—for the most beautiful little girl in first grade!
To read a short story about how I wrote my first poem click here.
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