(Most poems written between age 10 and 22; the last in this series was "Crusade Song" which was inspired by my research on the trobadors of Oc; a few of these early poems were revised and a few more written when I was a grad. student and Louise Gluck and Mark Strand -- Mark Strand's poetry did not excite me though and Louise Gluck's later work disappointed me who'd been a fan of the work in her book House on the Marshland -- joined resident poet Donald Justice -- whose work I adore though not always his criticism -- to offer a poetry workshop; I wrote one more poem not indexed here -- "L.A. Dawn" though it was inspired as well by what I saw of Kuwait City in the morning -- while teaching ESL in Kuwait. Poems not here that I do want to include include "The Hitchhikers," written as an undergraduate; perhaps "End of Term: Bonfire," in this collection but not indexed; and "L.A. Dawn," already mentioned. Of the poems in the collection "Clockbeat," o.k. are: "Faces," "Christmas [1974]," and "The Mapmaker." Of childhood poems, I suppose, "Bourbon St.," "The Universe," and "A Bird in the Hand," and perhaps one or two others.)