Florence P. Wordsmith Biography

I found my burning desire to write during my late teens, while staying with some friends of mine in a monastery in Lahij, in the southern part of Yemen. While in the company of Father Serj, I learned a good deal about life, love, and laughter. But my journey was only just beginning.
Due to the age limit of apprentice monks, I was forced to leave the sacred place at the age of 22. From there I traveled, by foot, up north, through Saudi Arabia to India, where I worked as an assistant to an elephant doctor. It was there I learned how metaphors shape the changes that reality serves us.
From there I spent many days in various deserts in Europe, helping villages dig wells for oil so that they could sustain themselves. It was here that my colleagues gave me the name Florence- since the name bestowed upon me by Fathers Serj and Tanktepoheepapylon was proving to be difficult for caucasians to pronounce. Only later would I realize that the name Florence was generally associated with the female gender, and since I was male, this was the cause of much confusion.
I visited various other countries throughout my journey, such as Paraguay, Australia, and the ever exotic Canada.
During my treks, I found the only way I could truly express myself was in verse, with the exception of various post-it notes that I used to keep track of my inner-most thoughts.
I hope you enjoy the poetry as much as I enjoyed writing it, hopefully much, much, much more.