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Philip Larkin made his way in the world, and I intend to make my way. I hope this sight will help draw a bead on the human condition as well as the world around it. I have something to say and to show and I want to show it. My hope is that you will give me a chance to show it. This sight is for my own needs, as well as the needs of anyone who ever wanted to say, "Hey I do something. I am valuable. I provide a service."

I hope to create a biography and a bibliography of myself to others. I will chronicle my obsessions, and I have a lot of obsessions. Any human being does. So put your seat belts on. Grab your thinking caps and if you're at all squeamish about a delving into the truth, you might want to go check out a wittle baby hamster sight, or ask Jeeves cause this sight is about telling the truth. I won't dumb it down.

Where shall I begin? My history is very varied, and if you've read this far you might want to know more.

I was born in Augusta, Georgia on November 13, 1972. I grew up in Bath, South Carolina, the only child of James D. and Cathy Enelow. I spent my summers in Ashburn, a small town in Georgia. I always used to say that if you happened to blink while driving through Ashburn you'd miss the whole town completely.

The truth is Ashburn was a special place to me for many reasons, and it didn't make a difference when I was younger that it was such a small town. Ashburn was the home of my grandmother and grandfather. It was the place where my parents were married, it was the place where my great grandmother Trudie lived and most importantly I always felt safe in Ashburn.

Even though Ashburn was 200 miles from my real home in North Augusta, South Carolina, it was a wonderful place. Ashburn was a land of peach sunsets and open country, Southern trains and country music. Ashburn was lemonade, sunshine, fresh pecans and watermelon on Sunday afternoons.

Ashburn was where my heritage lay, where my family took its roots and the was lemonade, sunshine, fresh pecans and watermelon on Sunday afternoons. Ashburn was where my heritage lay, where my family took its roots and the southern blood that pumped through my veins felt the strongest. My great grandmother and my grandparents helped foster my earliest interest in stories. My great grandmother Trudie is still a special person. There was many a magical moment, as I sat under the pecan tree in her yard, drinking tea and learning about my Southern heritage.

In Ashburn all things seemed good. Every summer, my family held a reunion at our cabin on Lake Blackshear. My grandfather and uncle traveled the lake and brought home some of the biggest fish in it, while my cousins and I explored and went swimming. The family always ate the biggest feast of Southern food imaginable and for dessert we always savored the finest treat known to our family, my great grandmother's and my grandmother Faye Tison's teacakes.

My other grandparents in Augusta were also storytellers. From them I gained my strength and compassion. My other grandparents in Augusta were also storytellers. From them I gained my strength and compassion. My grandmother Gussie always spoiled me and my Saturdays were often spent with my cousins, running and playing. We roamed and explored the backyards of everyone on Holden Drive, pretending to be Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, while the other kids were forced to play the roles of the evil empire.

I feel my love for writing was compelled by the two different cultures in which I was raised. From the beginning I was eager to speak in front of the class and I enjoyed reading. When other kids were playing baseball, I was reading books and dreaming of fantastic places and characters. I wanted to create. I wanted to channel the storytelling heritage of my blood into works my family could read. My love for writing excelled in every grade level. My creativity always seemed busy in some project or piece. I tried a number of different ways to tell stories, from acting to drawing, but I always came back to writing because it seemed the most perfect form.

When I grew older I found more opportunities to write things I really wanted to write. I could work on the school paper and literary magazine, and I could showcase my work there. Under the instruction of Dr. Stephen Gardner as a junior in college I learned my talent was in writing poetry. My mother and father were always supportive of my decisions including the one to pursue a career in English. I attended the University of South Carolina at Aiken where I developed my earliest abilities in writing poetry under the tutalidge of Dr. Stephen Gardner, my good friend, professor and first mentor. While at the university of South Carolina at Aiken, I also learned to believe in myself through the teachings of Dr. Phebe Davidson, Dr. Elaine Lacy, Professor Linda Lee Harper and Professor Debra van Tuyll. I published my first poems under the tutelidge of these Professors. Though these poems were sophmoric in their early attempts I am presenting them as an example of the emerging voice of my life. The first publication I received came with a 50 Dollar Check from Aiken County Magazine. I still have the acceptance notice, tucked away with all my rejection notices. It was a piece I wrote from the heart, but it was aimed toward a specific audience. It also included my Great Grandmother Trudie's Teacake Recipe. It was an early poem, and it was strong, but I was very young. I have included the poem and the recipe in my journal for your perusal. During my time at USC-Aiken, I worked extensively on the Literary Journal Broken Ink and some of my earlier poems can be seen there. My first poems were:

• "At the Diner on the Corner" &
• "Mojo Café"

In these earliest attempts, I was experimenting with narrative poetry. These as well went into my thesis. For the first time I felt that I had a talent. After this, I became involved with the journal. I continued to get in as well, but it was based on the merits of my work.

• Assassins
• Pandemonium Theatre Company
• Magicians

In the Spring of 96, I published my last poem with Broken Ink Magazine. The poem, "Orwell's" was about my time at a place called Orwell's Café. I can look back now and see it as excessively sentimental, but soon after that I began to send off to real magazines, and my obsession with poetry, rejection notices, and the pain was about to kick into high gear.

While at the University of South Carolina at Aiken I studied heavily the work of Richard Hugo and Dylan Thomas. I made many friends who inspired me to keep writing such as Dr. William Claxon, Dr. Sue Lorch, Dr. Elizabeth Bell, Clay Morton, Jannette Giles, Susan Poorbough, John Lowery, Delmar Brewington, Chasity Kirkland, and R.R. Baxley, Johnny Batres, and Jason Widner. I feel that I am most influenced by the work's of Dylan Thomas,Wendy Cope, Philip Larkin, R.S. Thomas, T.S. Eliot and James Dickey.

When the opportunity presented itself to learn under Dr. John Wood I took it without hesitation. I chose to go down into the world of Louisiana where I surrounded myself with a totally alien culture and found myself hundreds of miles from any family.

For three years I honed my poetic skills to a further understanding under the guidance of Dr. Wood who treated me as both a student and equal and after repeated trials and tests I developed what I believe to be my new developing voice.

This did not come easy, for my writing waned dangerously close to ruin when I spent an entire semester on a failed sequence of poems called "The Corwin Sequence," but after this semester I began an intense study of a few poets I had never truly read before and found that I had reached an epiphany. I combined aspects of both my undergraduate training and my newly I combined aspects of both my undergraduate training and my newly advanced training under Dr. Wood, and I embarked on a mission to both imitate the greatest poets I had admired.

To quote Dr. Gardner, "To be the best you imitate the best" and to quote Dr. Wood, "you follow the rules" until you gain a knowledge and proficient use of them and then you realize you work under them when you know them by heart and you also know when to break them. The work presented here is what I produced in the first two years under Dr. Wood's guidance, except for the poems "Manhattan Transfer" and ""Between Channels," which I produced as an undergraduate. The poems such as "Sweeney Among the Alley Cats," "The Lives of Toads" and "The Plumber's Aubade" are the poems I produced at the beginning of my final year and I believe they contain an emerging voice which is clearly my own.

I also believe I one can clearly see my emergence as a writer is not entirely limited to a southern voice of story telling or a poet of advanced training under Dr. Wood and I embarked on a mission to both I also believe I one can clearly see my emergence as a writer is not entirely limited to a southern voice of story telling or a poet of form. Though I am currently working in form primarily at the moment I still believe a competent poet should, in this day and age work in both mediums.

What George Whalley says about poem writing in his book Poetic Process: An Essay in Poetics is, "The process which ends in a work of art is at once an act of discovery and self-discovery: it is an act of self-realization which at the same time makes the world more real."

That statement became the basis of my current creative thesis. I am currently embarking on a series of poems about my own history and that of my family's history in Ashburn which are reflected in the poems "Near Blackshear Lake" and "Remembering Mayflies."

I have also uncovered a few fascinating stories of the Shealy and Tison family history which I believe will evolve into my best work. By now your probably wondering where my statement is concerning why I would like to be a fellow of your program. This is my story, and it isthe personal foundation of why I am the writer I am today. I believe with continued diligence and aid I could reach the next level of my development as a writer. The semester I embarked on my best work is where I faced a certain amount of what might be considered "tough love" meaning with only my own diligence and study I made my next advancement as a poet.

Though I believe deeply in the muses and poetic inspiration I do not believe that poems come like lightening strike of inspiration. When the do come this way it requires a certain amount of skill on the poet's part to harness that lightening and rechannel it, so it isn't just a spark and it isn't an insane tempest of words and disorganization. The greatest poets are those who diligently study and work and are open to criticism.

Under the influence of Dr. John Wood and my fellow graduate students at McNeese State University, I have developed my own consistent voice and a greater understanding of meter and form. The completion of "Reaching for Babylon," my thesis, reflects three years of diligent study, and I have a deeper belief in the value of my work. These years under the teaching of Dr. Wood and other professors have been the finest any student could receive. As well Dr. Carol Wood's teaching of Chaucer was also instrumental in a greater understanding of sound, which lead me into the understanding that helped me formulate my best work. I have had the opportunity to pursue the publication of my poetry and the study of literature during this time under the tutelidge of Dr. Robert Olen Butler. (Pictured Above: between Yeats and Dr. John Wood.) Before Graduating from McNeese State University, I finished my M.A. and my M.F.A. and was awarded the Joy Scantillbury Prize for Poetry. After leaving the University I spent the summer working at Sporty's. This was an excessively dark time.

Currently, I am studying at the University of Texas at Dallas. I have begun to pursue other interests, though my true love remains in the world of Poetry. Through the teaching of Rhetoric I have been able to pursue my own ends under the kindness of my boss and Professor Dr. Cynthia Haynes. While working on a MOO project for my class, I was awarded to be the Linguarian of the Month.

I have also begun a new course of study under my adviser Dr. Robert Nelsen. In the past I had liked the works of Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Conner, and James Joyce, but I don't think I actually understood him until taking Dr. Nelsen's class. I am also enjoying the instruction of Dr. Reiner Shulte, a brilliant scholar and poet. I have made may friends including the very wise Daniel Bartlett and his kind "girl-friday" Karen Tucker. As well, Chad Hansen has graciously invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him. I would also like to thank Katherine Perry and the vary garcious new friends I've made this year. Lori Yokochi, Liz Lisot, Diana Gingo and Nan Ma.

I would like to thank the following magazines where most of my poems were published or will soon be published: The Review. "Variations on a Theme by Dickey." The New Review: "Manhattan Transfer," "Night Writing Without You," "For Tiffany Who Tried to Save My Soul," "Edge of the Hundred Acre Woods." Arena 99: "An Aging Graduate Student Meditates Upon the Graces," "The Nature of Water," "Dragons." River King Poetry Supplement: "Family History."

I would also like to thank the members of the Poetry Writing Workshop without whose help many of these poems could not have been completed. The people here in the McNeese MFA Program who have been instrumental in my development as a writer are also very dear to me. Each in their own way has helped me to an understanding of art and friendship. For their aid I am grateful. I'd like to thank the members of my class for their critical eye and abundant help. Thanks again to Kayla Pobboravsky, Scott Whiddon, Genaro Smith, Heather Iarusso and Catherine Dmuchovsky. My heart goes out to the Class of 99. There are many friends in the program who must be acknowledged for individual contributions of spirit and true love. I'd like to thank Tim Vanech who taught me to believe in the power of my work. To Sean Chung, Rachel Morris, Matt Lany, Eric Schmitt, Kevin Meaux, Morri Creech, Mary Vaughan, Jennifer Fandel, Nancy Richard, Toni Goodwin, and Brian O'Leary who were always there for me as only true friends can be. My humblest thanks to James Halsey who taught me how to look into myself and to Barbara Royer who always pulled me back. To Jan McFarlain who fed me and to the staff of the library who nurtured me and kept me well. I would also like to extend my thanks to professors Dr. Jackie Walsh and Dr. Carol Wood who gave me entire semesters to read Shakespeare and Chaucer, which I'm positive allowed me a greater understanding of sound and form. My deepest love goes to my parents, James and Cathy Enelow who consented to let me move all the way out to Lake Charles, Louisiana in the first place and who allowed me to raid the family archives and find a greater understanding in the Tison history. I only hope these poems do my family honor. I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to Dr. John Wood. I have never known a greater Professor of poetry or literature, and I could never find a better guide, mentor or friend. The majority of the poems in this Thesis are here because of his dedication to art and poetry. I owe my deepest respect to his skilled eye, his acute ear and his honest criticism. Shantih.