A poetic journey through years marked by pain, loss, and drug abuse into recovery and spiritual promise.About the Author: Joe Allen, Jr. is a native New Yorker. A hip-hop artist at an early age, he began attending a poetry outreach workshop in the early part of this new century. He credits Ken Siegelman, Brooklyn's Poet Laureate from 2002 until his death in 2009, as a primary mentor in the phase of his development as a writer that produced the greater portion of this collection. Joe currently lives in the Bronx and has supported his community in various ways over the years. He has been a youth mentor for roughly fifteen years, and assisted in the protection of minors by serving as a mandated reporter of child abuse. He is also an assistant CPR trainer, though soon will be taking the lead role, and served in the civil capacity of coordinator for voting sites within his for eight years. He has most recently become CASAC certified.