Burton L. Carlson 
Free Up/Tie Down 
Volume 9, Collected Poems

This volume is the 9th volume of my Collected Poems. All have been published through Author House. My primary goal is to use understandable language to express my thoughts, my feelings, my hopes. I want description and images to be accurate statements of feelings honest. I find irony helpful.
I began writing in the late Fifties. My poems may be triggered by a word, a painting, something I have recently seen or experienced; something read; a conversation, a dream, a memory; or an event. My poems are necessarily personal, but I like to think that what I seek to express is not so different from what other humans experience, regardless of race, or nationality.
Actually, writing poetry is how I deal with emotional crises and stress. Its a refuge where I can get far enough away from daily pressures to determine who I am, to be myself apart from work, family, and events. Many of my poems carry religious themes and overtones. That is not surprising, since my father, my maternal grandfather, and one uncle were ministers…as is my first wife from whom I am divorced.

About the author

I was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, to missionary parents. I grew up in Huntington, Indiana; Glendale, Burbank and Turlock, California; and Philomath, Oregon. I received my High School Diploma from Huntington High School in Huntington, Indiana and my undergraduate BA degree in philosophy from Wabash College, also in Indiana. A Sloan Scholarship attendance at Wabash possible. I have two graduate degrees from Yale: a Bachelor of Divinity and a Masters in Religious Studies. My graduate work at Yale was supported by Woodrow Wilson and Danforth Fellowships. A Fulbright Scholarship allowed me to spend a year studying philosophy and theology at Eberhard-Karls Universitaet in Tuebingen, Germany.

Professionally, I have worked at all levels of government with a few years spent in the private sector. Most positions have been in the fields of education, employment, and training. I held local positions in New Haven, CT and Boston, MA, statewide positions in Utah and Colorado, and a national position with the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C. I have also been employed federally as Administrative Assistant to a Congressman and in positions with the U.S. Departments of Labor (U.S. Employment Service) and Education (Office of Vocational and Adult Education). I have carried out assignments for the Ford Foundation and/or Department of Labor (Manpower Administration) in San Francisco and Watts, CA; Las Vegas, NV; St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT; Akron and Cleveland OH; Chicago; IL, Jacksonville, FL; Greenville, MS.

I am retired and living with my wife, Andrea Wood, in Easton, Virginia.