To tell you the truth, my influences are mainly my poet friends...I think that it's important to feed off famous poems and specific styles, but nothing is a more powerful influence to me than the experience of writing with my loved ones, bouncing feedback off one another, and growing together. Literature is a journey, and even though a lot of the artists out there choose to walk it alone in their humble and tormented ways, I feel that I'd rather sneak a peek into the minds of those who are closest to me now and then. It's really a great thing, deep down inside, rather than being awestruck by the work of a detached entity whose experiences may or may not resemble my own. You may not agree, but in my opinion, the special bond between friends goes beyond the social relationship, it's in the hearts and minds of each friend, and isn't that where poetry comes from?