Dr. Dennis E. Donham was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. At the time Dr. Donham attended high school, East St. Louis was listed in Look magazine as an all-America city, a far cry from what it became. Dr. Donham became a career student affairs educator in academe, doing his utmost to encourage young adults to reach high in their personal expectations. In that career he had to meet numerous personal challenges to overcome his own humble background. His poems reflect that odyssey and demonstrate the joy and humor in a purposeful life. They include playful encounters with Paul McCartney and George S. McGovern, and serious musings of oriental philosophy gleaned from the author’s experiences in Nepal and India. Among the most moving are tributes to his parents, who never abandoned the bedside of a severely disabled daughter for fifty-two years; and a murdered cousin, who along with her husband made weekly food deliveries to the poor. His poems cover the full range of human emotion and are accessible to all readers. Each one, however complex or simple, relates a rich story. Dr. Dennis E. Donham received a bachelor’s degree in history from Knox College, and Ms.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees in higher education from Southern Illinois University. A victim of undiagnosed sleep apnea, Dr. Donham would often write poetry to lull himself to sleep. He never kept those poems, however. With treatment for his sleep apnea upon retirement, he discovered that he could often memorialize events with poems, as well as concisely describe thoughts or passing moments on walks. He discovered he soon had enough poems to publish his own volume. His poems reflect the musings of an examined life not available to many butwhose emotions have meaning to all.