I wrote poetry
and studied literature
in college.
My first idea
had been to study
art history
but I couldn’t bear
to look at wall projections.
Upon graduation,
I taught in the English Dept.
at Hofstra University
for a year.
After which
I took off for Mexico
and South America.
I had an epiphany
on my way to Lima
and decided to paint.
That was in 1977.
Some years later
on a Sunday morning
precisely at 12
Ivan Karp came over
packing a gun
when Williamsburg was still
the Wild West
and I had my first show
at O.K. Harris
in 1989.