how this came to be

author

born gary wright bowers in the los angeles megalopolis in 1954/second child of harold price bowers sr. and the former jane paula householder/third child brian clemens followed in 1957/family moved to arizona in 1958

drew a portrait of his mother before he was three/first poems at age 7/first claywork also at 7/first sonnet in early 20s/first acrostic poem in 1987/100th sonnet in 2007/first sestina in 2008/second sestina in 2008

married 1988/one daughter born 1990/divorced 2011/estranged 2021

stockboy/assistant registrar/security guard and custodian/receiving clerk/warehouseman/office guy/office manager/administrative vice president/office administrator/graphics designer/data encoder/insurance administrator/analyst/newsletter editor/coordinator/substitute teacher/bookkeeper/front desk clerk/data entry operator/restaurant host & cashier/retiree/prep cook (list incomplete)

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hair

yesterday the author took a boar’s-hair brush to his head and then took photos

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poem

changed working title from “how this poem came to be” to the more comprehensive “how this came to be” and then thought and typed