Poetry. FOR LACK OF DIAMOND YEARS is an idiosyncratic collection of short poems—most under 20 lines—that are a mixed set of free verse, unabashed counting forms like the Hay(na)ku and the Elfchen, and a very minimalist version of John Cage's mesostic form, along with a small number of poems based on colors, and a few that steal freely from traditional American songs. At its heart, FOR LACK OF DIAMOND YEARS is a quixotic narration between realms of being—from the quotidian into the sometimes numinous, sometimes murky realm of the unknown/unknown, and on into a kind of revamped transcendental—the 'what if' and 'where am I' worlds. There is a thread of praise that runs throughout—an embrace of the joys and sorrows of thinking and feeling, of love and loss.