Jerry Dan Deutschendorf was born and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma. His great-grandparents came to Oklahoma to farm in the early days after its founding. Jerry grew up in a close and loving family who nurtured his growth spiritually and physically.

Jerry’s family spent many days and nights in the nearby Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. It was this wild and lovely place that proved the genesis for many of his later nature poems.

Jerry did not begin a concerted effort at writing poetry until sometime after his fortieth year. It was then that he began to seriously consider the creation of poetry as an important calling in his life.

These poems are published here as a way for Jerry to share them freely with others.