On My Way to Becoming a Man

the long version

*On My Way to Becoming a Man* vividly takes the reader on a journey from boyhood innocence to adulthood. Winans speaks the power of truth as he takes us down a long road of political narrative, beginning with his boarding of a troop train, heading for boot camp, to the jungles of Panama, through the political turmoil of Vietnam and beyond. As in life, the poems are filled with both pain and beauty. They possess an elegant simplicity and clarity, conveyed with heartfelt expressions of a wise observer. You might not always like or agree with what the poet has to say, but there is no denying the poems are presented in a powerful, honest, and uncompromising literary style.