Writing always was difficult for me; expressing my feelings with words on paper. My maternal grandmother was an excellent writer and story teller and I always loved reading her poetry and stories.

In the fall of 2005, I took two English classes where my wonderful teacher, Carol-Ann, helped me find my voice and not be afraid of expressing myself. Almost every night as I drove home from class, my grandma would "nudge" me into writing a poem. I thought of a few phrases but by the time I arrived home, the phrases were lost in my memory.

One day, I was urged to grab a pencil and notepad and the next thing I knew, I wrote my first poem - in my adult life.

My Cocoon

Inside my cocoon is where I hid
Inside my cocoon is where I eased the pain
Inside my cocoon is where I cried
Inside my cocoon is where I lived a half-life
Inside my cocoon is where I prayed
Inside my cocoon is where I felt safe
Inside my cocoon is where I gained strength
Inside my cocoon is where I healed the wounds
Inside my cocoon is where I broke down the walls around my heart
Inside my cocoon is where I learned who I was
Inside my cocoon is where I learned who I want to become
Inside my cocoon is where I began to transform into the butterfly

Outside my cocoon is where I will live
Outside my cocoon is where I will love
Outside my cocoon is where I will fly.

- KJR 15 January 2006

Note: As on all my poetry, do not use this without my consent, copyright is owned by me)

Since this time, with a lot of prodding from my grandma and my friends Vickie and Monica, I continue to write poetry.

In April of 2006, with the encouragement of Vickie and Monica, I created a website for poetry and photos - either sold separately or combined. See the link on the left sidebar for K&M Photos and Poetry.

I feel that my grandma is proud of me, finally. We had a running joke when she was alive; she was disappointed in me because I have the "C to C" reach but never learned to play the piano. Now I see that my fingers were meant for writing and creating poetry as music.