My own journey in becoming a poet began with memory - with the need to record and hold on to what was being lost. One of my earliest poems, Give and Take, was about my Aunt Sugar, how I was losing her to her memory loss.
We want the clear facts to be reported that we, according to the FBI, have a lower violent crime rate than Atlanta, or Houston, or Dallas, or Miami or San Antonio. To some extent, the perception that's been created is much greater than the reality.