Reflections of My Passion

The older of three sons, Edwin Guasp was born in Puerto Rico in 1962. During his early adolescence, his parents moved to a small town, where he received his middle and high school education. It was then that he began to develop a close relationship with his passions; nature, water, forests, and his grandfather Ismael. During these years he was molded as an inquisitive and passionate man towards nature and the human condition. In 1980, he graduated from high school, attended UPR studying Natural Sciences, and in 1982 transferred to Florida State University to study Bio-chemistry. Few months before graduation, Edwin shocked the family telling them that he wanted to become a Catholic priest. In the summer of 1985 he was assigned a missionary post in the west side of Cleveland, Ohio to work with Latino families. In 1986 he began his studies in philosophy and theology at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA. These years were fundamental creating an intimate portrait of his philosophical views on life, love, and humanity. In 1989, he returned to Cleveland to work as a chemist. It was 1990 when he began confronting the conflicts between his passions and humanistic views, which resulted on finding an outlet through poetry writing. Edwin wrote only when his heart and spirit asked him to do so. By 2010, he had written more than forty poems. Finally, on December 28th 2010, after residing for three months in Florida, he met someone very special in the City of St Petersburg that renewed his hope on life, and opened the gates of his heart to a new beginning. He was inspired to share his life experiences; its joys, and the fruits of his work. The result is this poetry book, "Reflections of My Passion." This is to you, J. O.