When is the last time a poem made you blush or drove you mad to crack its code? Sometimes a poem is mysterious, other times downright weird, shamelessly real, raw or even ruthless. For me, I consider a poem good when something within me is stirred up when I read it. It doesn't have to make me feel good - it just has to make me feel something. However, if a poem is so out of reach that I've no idea what the poet is trying to say, I'll just hate it and walk away. As a poet, I don't want readers to scratch their heads and say, "What the...?" I want them to get it. Sure, I want to turn a phrase in a way that is poetic and unique, but I don't want to leave you wondering what I was smokin' when I wrote it. Code in poetry is only fun when you can break it. With maybe one or two exceptions, I feel my poems are pretty down to earth and straight forward. But maybe I'm wrong. Poetry is, after all, as subjective as any writing. I hope above all else that you'll be stirred in some way by this effin' little book. I hope it stirs you to read more poetry, to write more poetry or to express your own creativity in the ways that you find uplifting.