Kenneth Pobo (he/him) grew up in Illinois and now lives in Pennsylvania with his husband and cat. He began writing at the age of 15, inspired by songs like "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells, and his Midwestern roots have continued to influence his writing. For 33 years he taught English and creative writing at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 2020 he retired from teaching--but not from writing. He focuses mostly on poetry and flash fiction, with many of his poems being character studies and including garden-centered imagery. He also enjoys writing ekphrastic poems exploring connections with other forms of art, often painting or music. He is the author of 33 chapbooks and seventeen full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), Sore Points (Finishing Line Press), Lilac and Sawdust (Meadowlark Press), Lavender Fire, Lavender Rose (BrickHouse Books), Gold Bracelet in a Cave: Aunt Stokesia (Ethel Press), and recently from Fernwood Press, a book of poems called At the Window, Silence, and from Broken Tribe, It Gets Dark So Soon Now. His work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Amsterdam Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Nimrod, Indiana Review, Mudfish, Hawaii Review, Southern Indiana Review, and elsewhere.