So you're doing a background check. Well, you can take my word for it, my past is so shady that it makes the dark side of the moon look sunny, but thanks to the love of a close family and some very special friends, I'm starting to shine like a crazy diamond in the rough. If you appreciate classic rock or you came of age in the '60s or the '70s, the allusions in the previous sentence probably triggered an awareness that Pink Floyd might be one of my influences. Well, let me not to the marriage of true finds admit that I have often been guilty of slip-sliding away on my sentimental journey toward the centre of my worth, since my heart has often been most at ease when I renew old memories before late fees accrue. Rich and unusual blends hold a strange fascination for me. That is probably why I am fond of Shakespeare's sonnets and plays, and in some small way it may be one of the many reasons why I am especially attracted to that other celebrated text commissioned by the king for whom the bard of Avon wrote "Macbeth"--namely the King James version of the Holy Bible. The power of the word of God cannot be overstated by even the most overwhelming, over-reaching superlative of hyperbolic extrapolations one might make. So I'll just settle for an understatement: "It moves me."

Other literary influences that serve as "iron" to sharpen the "iron" of my own prose include Heinlein, Thomas Hardy, Le Guin, John Fowles, Jane Austen, Henry Fielding and Ray Bradbury. Among the many fascinating theatrical scripts that I have had the good pleasure to have read and/or seen performed, I consider those created by Wilde, Euripides, Chekhov, Ibsen, Brecht, Shaw, Moliere, Beckett, Miller, Tennessee Williams and Pinter to be tremendously sophisticated and intriguing. Whether it is scenic spectacle or dramatic dialogue, there is much to be admired in work of the above-mentioned writers. Poetic influences include Eliot, Pound, Plath, Dickinson, Browning, Frost, Keats, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Yeats, Marvell, Stevens and MacLeish. I have written a lot of poetry over the years, and I continue to fine-hone my skills. I am motivated by my goal of perfecting poetry that involves applying what Keats called "negative capability" to create what Eliot referred to as objective correlatives" which allow the reader to achieve a full sensual, conceptual and spiritual experience.

As I hinted previously, contemporary music has predisposed me to appreciate the nuances of lyrical phrasing. Many individual artists have made an impact on me: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Joan Baez, Annie Lennox, Buffie St. Marie, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Madonna, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Neil Young, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Gerry Rafferty, Elton John and John Denver. The list could go on and I know I'm forgetting many people. Most prominent among the many musical groups whose lyrics and music influenced me are: The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, The Eagles, Supertramp, Queen, ELO, REM, Crowded House, Three Dog Night, REO Speedwagon, Mad Season, the Steve Miller Band and Crosby, Stills Nash and Young. There is a distinctive dichotomy between my current spiritual faith and the ideologies inherent in some of the lyrics made famous by the above-mentioned bands. My muse inspires me to reconcile some of these disparities by creating my own prose-poetry to offer hope, spiritual meaning, encouragement and enlightenment to allay the concerns, fears, skepticisms and often bitter perspectives that come through in the modern music scene.