I Once Was a Grape When I was a teenager, I used to write poetry all the time. I had a little shelf in my room that I used as an altar. It was a combination of rosary, candles, and statues that conjured up something meaningful in me. Poetry would just pour out of me. I felt like I was an altar in the world for others. It was dramatic and driven by the desire for love and God. I remember writing a whole series of poems from the vantage point of a grape that became aware that it was part of a bunch of grapes, a vineyard and eventually wine. It was called,