It's amazing the synchronicity of what the little boy in the story discovered about poetic experience and what I wrote. I once said that it is paying attention to life when all the rest of the world is asleep to its beauties and truths. Of course, this is how one becomes receptive but the actual process of inspiration and the subsequent creation is wrapped in mystery. Ironically, I also attended a Catholic private school and was beaten as well - it made me stronger. But I lost a year from being abused by an ex-seminarian who who tried to break my will. I think that is what has enabled me to endure pain quietly and transmute that into poetry. It's crucial to be sensitive but it's also necessary to be strong.