First blog

This is the first of my blog posts. In choosing to travel with me, we will go down multiple enriching paths.

First, I would like a path of poetry. While I don’t have an MFA degree (I’m a degreed engineer — BS & MS from Cornell University — with an MBA in Finance from George Washington University), I do consider myself well read about poetry (craft, content, technique, history, etc.).

For the last ten years I have been applying the poetry craft to my efforts. Some of what I have learned may be of interest for both the reader and writer of poetry.

If you have a copy of my book (available on Amazon) or visit my website (www.otisbook.com), so much the better.

Apart from poetry, we will also talk about some the most pressing social problems of today, in particular, racial justice.

I believe lying at the root of the compounded racial injustices of this country is a lack of common understanding for how we got here.

This is a long complex story with many rich details. And that story has long been both buried and unknown.

I am of the belief that the simple act of building a shared common knowledge for our history will make us stronger in virtually every way —as individuals and as a country.

So, fasten your seatbelt.

Off we go!