Poet helps others find solutions to their problems
Russell “Rusty” Jenkins published a book of poetry with the help of Lisa Edwards.
“I’ve always written poetry. That’s how I dealt with my emotions, putting things down on paper. It started when my grandmother died. I didn’t know how to deal with that. It was the first time I really felt so much hurt.
“So I just wrote something about my grandmother and called it ‘Heaven Hall of Fame.’ I read it to my family at the Christmas get-together. I had copies for all of them. They said, ‘Rusty, that’s a beautiful poem.’ I really didn’t think of it as being poetry. That’s just how I got my feelings out.
“But I used that talent the wrong way for years. I would write these women something real nice and pretty, trying to set me up with them. Then this lady here, when I met her and eventually let her read one of my poems, she said, ‘You ought to write a book.’ People had told me that before. I always thought, yeah, OK, whatever. But when she said it, I thought, yeah, let’s do it.
“It’s called ‘Jesus: Keep It Simple.’ There’s a poem on one page and questions to go with it on the other page, with a place to write notes. Through the poems you can seek answers, and through the questions you can find solutions.
“I’ve done so much to help destroy other people’s lives by getting high with them, introducing them to marijuana, introducing them to other drugs and stuff. Now it’s time for me to try to reach people in a different, more positive way.”
— Russell “Rusty” Jenkins
Related:
