I began writing poetry seriously in the early morning hours following the murder of John Lennon. I had been up all night, listening to a radio station that was playing his music continuously, when the song Aisumasen (I'm Sorry), from the Mind Games LP, came on. It inspired me to write a poem that helped resolve a personal conflict I was involved with, which in turn allowed the other person to forgive me for my transgressions. Up until then, poetry was simply something I had to write in English class from time to time. After that I realized that through the expression of my feelings, I had made a positive change in both of our lives. The feeling I came away with from that experience has guided my hand in writing poetry for more than 25 years. It holds special significance to me beyond that, as John Lennon had been a tremendous influence in my life and helped form the person I am today. Others who have influenced me include Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King Jr., Richard M. Nixon, though in unexpected ways, and Jimmy Carter. That's a list I could continue with at various levels, but in general, nearly everyone has influenced me to some degree, either from admiring them and their deeds or recognizing their negative impact on the world and making a conscious decision not to emulate their behavior. I give credit to Johnny Carson and comedians such as Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Gallagher for my sense of humor, though it goes far beyond that short list. As far as poetry goes, I don’t really have any influences. There are many I admire, but I have never tried to write like anyone else. I only write when I feel inspired to write, which I understand is unlike most other poets. I have read a lot of “how to” books and they always say to write as often as possible. While I agree that the more one writes, the better one becomes, but for me, I am not interested in perfection, I simply want to express what is in my heart and to do so as honestly as I can. I don’t want to fill pages upon pages with empty words, I want to be sure that each word is what I feel and isn’t influenced by the potential of publication or recompense.  

I have published two books, "Seeds and Weeds", and "Passion & Pain". Both are available through Amazon.com @ http://astore.amazon.com/seedsandweeds-20 . For some reason the link this site provides to my ISBN's does not lead to my books, but instead a alphabetical list of authors in which my name is lost in obscurity amidst seveal other J Johnson's. It seems odd that the system asks for specific ISBN numbers but then goes by author name. What's the point in that?