At a time when the sexual revolution and the feminist movement were opening doors for American women, young Karen Moses left her parents' middle-class home in the Bronx and set out to live her own free life, unencumbered by social convention.

What would you do if your guidance counselor proposed that you abandon your artistic ambitions in favor of a “sensible” career? A career in service to others, one that involves panty hose, white oxfords, and the handling of bodily fluids? If you were a high school girl in 1972, chances are you would say, “Oh, okay,” and get on with it. If you were Gloria Baker, you would make up your mind to be the best nurse ever.

Memoirists often talk about life-changing moments. Identifying them is an essential step in turning lived experience into art.

The prompt: Write a poem that includes the phrase "The life you have." Morning walk, Foret de Fontainebleau, Rue des Princes. Nothing...