"Allen's Poetry Book 1, The Early Years" is the first of three books collectively containing nearly 400 of Allen's poems as testament to his 67-year-long love of such composing. His poetry encompasses: observations, occasions, tall and not-so-tall tales and stories, politics, family, religion, philosophy, God, science, love, marriage, loss, death and most of all, people. Although Allen writes in different voices and cadences, his poetry is mostly matter-of-fact using every-day language. However, he loves rhythm and rhyme and the use of alliteration especially in his tongue-in-cheek poetry, and his tall tales. Book I covers the period from 1946 (when Allen wrote his first published poem at age 13) through 1963 when Allen left the Air Force. This period includes college at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, marriage, graduate school at Case Institute in Cleveland, OH, children, and the Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH and the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO.