It is amazing how many generous people there are out there in this world of chaos. I discovered a number of them in the online poetry community. I had just started to get into a writing groove, after thirty plus years of abstaining from poetry writing, when the pandemic broke out. This only gave me more time to indulge into what was quickly becoming a passion.

I began to post some of my poems online and began to receive a lot of encouragement from fellow poets. Many encouraged me to take my poetry further and publish a book. One of those poets was Joseph M Holloway who goes by the handle @riddlingshrift online.

Joseph and I immediately found common ground since I am a former teacher and he is public school educator, coach, and mentor, who has aided thousands of students in their writing processes over the past 25 years.

Addressing the current social climate within the United States and around the globe has allowed him to couple students’ individual sensibilities with their appreciation and understanding of literature. He strongly believes that we, as citizens and human beings, are responsible for making our experiences meaningful for others in this ever-changing world. Most of his published writing involves insight into nature and matters of the heart.

It is Joseph’s experience as a mentor, and his passion for nature and social justice, that made him the ideal person to ask to read through my manuscript with a fine tooth comb and give constructive criticism. I am so glad that he agreed. The image shows an extract from the foreword he kindly wrote for “Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection for Poetry and Thought.