User:Smoss52/Richard Wilson Moss

Richard Wilson Moss (b. 9 September 1952) is an American poet and writer whose works include the poems The Lions of Ethiopia, The Sun Torture, and The Evangelist. He has garnered international popularity on social media with interviews and followers. ,.

Richard was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA in 1952. He began writing poetry when he was 13, after an English teacher introduced him to Edgar Allen Poe. An uninspired student in public school, he avoided schoolwork in order to read and write, left school before graduating, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy so as to avoid being drafted into the army and into the Viet Nam conflict. There he caught the attention of Sandra Westcott, a fellow enlistee. This was the first time he shared his poetry with anyone. They married two months later. Over the next four years, their children, Emily Loren and Shelley Westcott were born. The family lived hand-to-mouth for many years: Richard was a poet who had little interest in being a breadwinner. The family’s relationship, struggle, and adventures were chronicled in a narrative, Northspur.

Although Richard is recognized as a seasoned poet, he managed to eke out a meager living in a multitude of jobs as a manual laborer and delivery driver, until he retired on social security. Richard writes exclusively in English. He is known for his original point of view and philosophy influenced by his father, and his lively narrative style reminiscent of Dylan Thomas, Charles Bukowski, and T.S. Eliot. He tutors young writers online in his free time.