Brice T Smith

As a young denizen of the American Southwest, the author lived for several formative years next door to his Uncle Thomas-"Unk"-an Army combat veteran of both World War I and II.

A curious synchronicity began to unfold, unnoticed by the restof the family.

On scorching summer afternoons, Unk becomes the de facto babysitter while the boy waits for the desert heat to abate.

While reading Unk's magazines, he plots his next bout of mischief, and absorbs something deeper.

One day, Unk falls into a quiet trance and recites "In Flanders Fields," start to finish, entirely from memory.

The young listener is transfixed:

How could these words spring from this battle-hardened old man?

A few months later, it happens again! This time, it's Longfellow's "My Lost Youth."

In these moments, poetry takes hold.

If Unk reveres it, after all he's done and seen, then poetry must be the real deal.

When Unk gifts him an LP by The Doors-his first rock record-that deal is sealed.

Ten years later, the sunburnt Arizona boy ships off to endure Plebe Summer at the United States Naval Academy, earn a degree in Electrical Engineering, and serve in the Nuclear Navy aboard a fast attack submarine.

Afterward comes Medical School, courtesy of the United Stated Army.

After decades of service, thousands of poems, and a lifetime of travel-including remote wanderings aboard a sailboat-he is now convinced: Wherever you go, Poetry is always near.