This piece is dedicated to  VincentCorbeau, who is far more talented than he gives himself credit for, and whose work deserves a lot more respect and views than it often gets.
Vincent, aka Corvus, has also been a tireless and indefatigable supporter of my work (often far more support than I've often felt my work deserves), and for which I am eternally grateful.

Coming from a crusty Gen-Xer like me, who has often gotten more than a little sour about the EXPECT RESPECT! attitude that a lot of the generation that immediately followed my own has often shown, and had inculcated in them from the cradle, it's also a recognition that there are nevertheless a not insignificant number of younger folks, who have actually earned that respect, and the raven poet is indeed one of those. A very big part of this is that Corvus has overcome a lot of obstacles in his life, and has shown himself to be a strong survivor.

Likewise, I can poke fun at myself from time to time, especially by referring to the snipe the late, great Leonard Cohen made in his 1992 song The Future about: "and all lousy little poets comin' round, tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson..."

Well, to fully own that "lousy little Gen-X poet " cachet, I might as well quote Charlie, from the song "People Say I'm No Good" off of his 1968 underground album: "LIE: The Love and Terror Cult"

"The young might not be so dumb after all,
and from the young, you might even learn..."


I can say, without reservation that  VincentCorbeau is indeed one of those young, from which us slightly older folks might indeed learn a few things. Indeed, I think in the long run, I may have learned far more things from him than I've been able to teach in return.
There's not too many people I've met in this life that I can honestly say that about.