Shawn Dorian Ricks presents a humorous, but painfully realistic series of poems created from night after night of disturbing dreams intermixed with fanciful memories. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he fought to hide from the tormenting memories born from war, and sought instead to transform them into a more positive, healing insight into his life and his experiences. The son of an elementary school teacher, he received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Philander Smith College and immediately found an outlet for the empathy he had felt for the children of war. He recounts glimpses of his childhood days filled with fond memories of an all-black school's cafeteria and the firm but caring school personnel who helped shape his life. Much of his writing revolves around his schoolroom escapes and struggles to have his voice of compassion heard and heeded.