My days studying to be a writer at University of Toronto, then working as a professional writer/editorial assistant in New York, meeting other writers, were the happiest days of my life. I knew from grade four that I would be a writer. I had the greatest experiences meeting Canadian poets and one special American poetess. Irving Layton became my friend and told me, "Poetry is an escape from hell." He wrote many enduring and prophetic poems, like his friend Leonard Cohen who visited Layton while he was in an old age home.During "lockdown" in Toronto due to the Covid virus, I have been listening to Leonard Cohen a great deal. His "Live in London" albums are very prophetic about the world we inhabit.The great poet T.S. Eliot, who was my compass and guide throughout university said, "Poets are the legislators of the race."