First Eighty-five Poems is a book of poetry written between January 1, 1959 and August 1, 1963 while the author was in junior high and high school. He shares what he was feeling and thinking when he wrote some of his poems. It is an autobiography in poetry. The author often considered taking his own life, but decided not to do that. The author questioned his Evangelical Protestant upbringing and later chose to be a Christian through his philosophy of life and not through the church. He served as a pastor for a number of years. The poems are presented in the order in which he wrote them and they share the feelings and questions he had during that time in his life. Readers may find his poems and comments helpful as they struggle with their own feelings about the world, their family and friends and their purpose in life.