I have always been drawn to poetry -- the carefully chosen words that paint pictures, capture the depths of despair or describe soaring feelings of joy, sharp edges of loss, flutters of hope and optimism. A poem can say in a few perfectly chosen words, exactly what I’m feeling or thinking or living. And I snip those lines and stitch them into my mind, like a patchwork quilt, full of colors and memories and feelings and truths. And when I need comfort or courage or clarity or hope, I pull these lines out, and they speak to me.