We are humans and so we create. I took a dive into my artistic side in 2016 when I first wrote and performed my poem, Moment in Time, at Oh Snap! Poetry in the Lake of the Ozarks.

Now I started my creative journey as a poet and these days I wear multiple creative hats. I am a published poet, a rapper, a published game designer, and a photographer. Above all else, I aspire to inspire and fan the fires of desire for a kinder world.
In 2022 my life almost suddenly ended when my car slammed head-on into the end of a guardrail — like we were in a jousting match. I had been going 75 MpH on the interstate before I was launched into the air and flipped upside down, my little blue Prius was destroyed but kept me alive. I was incredibly fortunate to survive, but even after surviving the crash I wasn’t out of the woods yet. My accident caused a diffuse axonal brain injury. This is a type of brain injury that 90% of people never wake from. I did. I will never walk through life the same again. If I listen to logic, it says my name should be engraved in a tombstone. Instead of that tragic future, I woke up several days later in the hospital. I was unable to walk without someone helping me balance by holding the gait belt around my waist. I could not speak very clearly and finding words was a challenge unto itself. I had spent my life playing baseball and performing poetry. This new world I had woken up in held no promise that either of those things would be in my future. I wasn’t sure where my life would go. The weight of the thought — life could end in an instance — had grown exponentially. 

I am recognizing more and more everyday that I am the one living my life. I get to choose how much every moment means to me. I only have a small, hopefully hundred year, blip on this earth. I am going to help people. I am going to inspire more harmony with the world. My blip almost ended ahead of schedule and now I will not waste a moment longer. In my speech therapy at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital I found inspiration to make Word Whizzes. The card game I designed to help people who are finding their voice enjoy the journey by using the tongue twisters I wrote during and after my time in speech therapy. Since I was unable to work for a year after my car crash I chose to use that time as an opportunity to publish Word Whizzes as well as my poetry book, Garden of Thoughts, inspired by and titled after my haiku.

A garden of thoughts
Can be peaceful or deadly,
What you grow matters.

In the years since my car crash I have gotten back into performing in a major way. I am a member of the 2026 Fountain City Poets slam team from Kansas City. We intend to compete in multiple national slams this year.

I have also taken up photography. I am in love with the remarkable beauty of earth and all her creatures, including us. <3

Perhaps the thing that I am proudest of is that Word Whizzes has sold over 200 copies! It is  being used in a plethora of ways, speech therapy for brain injury survivors, speech therapy for stroke survivors, speech therapy for children, vocal warmups for performers and it gets played at parties too. I am so honored to have the opportunity to inspire vast numbers of people with my words.
The story of my traumatic brain injury and my following card game, Word Whizzes, have been featured in multiple news articles both in print and on live TV here in Kansas City and in Nebraska.

Before I run out of time, cherish every moment
The Reaper will find I’m a fearless opponent
Life is a bull, grab the horns, jump on it
I got one mind, one soul in this beautiful sonnet.

Life is indeed a bull and I got a miraculous second chance to ride it, so you better believe I will make the most of it.