Smitten

As a child growing up, I had to depend on people I didn't trust to take care of me. I grew up with a skin hunger due to the circumstances surrounding the earliest days of my life.

On a more positive note, I had books to read and was in love with words by the time I was five years old. I wrote something for the first time at age 12. That is when my first glimpse into my talent to write hit me. I found in due time that I possessed a gift and that using my talent as a writer was part of my soul's work. I had a voice that cried out to be heard. But who would listen? Later, two life changing things occurred.  I signed up for a creative writing course in my early twenties. I discovered, I was far ahead of the other students for I was already a professional writer by then. Even though I quit the class, I gained a mentor ( my instructor) who guided me up until the day he passed years later.
He said, "You have something to say and people want to hear it." He helped me to believe in myself. As far as poetry went, I was already smitten.

Where has my love for writing taken me? Not only has it taken me places I have always dreamed of going, it has actually kept me in this life. For even in my darkest moments, I believed there was good in me, something needing to be expressed that was worth saying. Writing has truly been my salvation!