When I was fourteen I knew I wanted to be a writer. Reading the phrase “forest, dark” in Longfellow’s English translation of Dante’s Commedia was enough for me to appreciate and acknowledge the powers of the poet. Ever since, I have tried to move past appreciation into an understanding and assimilation of these powers. I do this to ultimately, someday, wield them myself. I am still in the process of understanding, I am not yet a poet but neither am I the mere observer I once was. I am on the journey now, immersed in the pursuit of discovery and creation.