actually
during my initial forays into art
was a terrible time for me
i dropped outa grad school
New Hampshire
packed my goods
wound up in Detroit
by choice
had a suburban cabbie job
went down by Wayne State
got me a pad and signed on with Metropolitan Cab
not bad
just my head reeling from the rebellious years just past
an outcast, rebel, hit the skids
took basic drawing at an atelier school down by the river
old couple, musty place,
small class tho
we drew simple shapes
and I drew my first exhibit,
a doll with bouquet,
moved on forgot the way,
split for somewhere
Louisiana kin
told me not to come back again,
work camp southern Louisiana,
then headed west,
robbed of my last 80 bucks by young cops in Juarez,
hitched to SF, a month there bummng,
hitched to St Louie, a winter there with many trips to the museum,
summer in NYC many museum trips a few lessons,
then down to Houston to work the oil rigs
then art classes at the Museum school and fine arts league,
mercy, got drunk and out of cash, spent a summer in Missiissippi then back to Mo-Town, this time took classes at Wayne State
but I was traumatised, alienated,
back to California for a year, Santa Cruz, back to NYC more concentrated drawing lessons 6 months at aArt sStudents lLeague,
beginning life drawing,
then went back to my relatives in Shreveport,
counselled at the VA
MEDITATIONS AT uu CHURCH, bUDHISTS,
more drswings, exhibit4ed at Vet Center,
Stoner art center,
more freewhee;ling after five years, til I bummed into St Pete 1988,
been here ever since, drawings for ten years at St Pete Art League,
became a nurse, marriied, active with vets for peace,
I'm on a survival mission,
some kind of art creative activity
is for continuity
when there is none
the road to redemption
art for art's sake,
babes. We all love you and the baby~
down below oil rig cloudy Gulf of Mexico 1977

actually here you could fish an draw at th same time, but I had the blues, beat.