You may remember Ian McRae, our friend and poet, and shearer of our sheep. Two years ago, he told me he wanted to pursue his poetry writing but had decided to shear sheep and work in a Granville, N.Y., slate factory instead.

This was perhaps the wrong thing to say to me.

I had no squawks about his shearing or working in a slate factory, but it troubled me that this exceptionally bright and thoughtful and interesting young man might give up what he admitted was a lifelong love and dream – poetry.

He had read poetry books all of his life and written some,  but I know the story of people like Ian in the country. They don’t talk about it much, and when they do, they regret it.

Support and encouragement for creativity are hard to come by anywhere. It is rarely considered a calling or career. But if you are a true writer or artist or poet, it’s in your soul, embedded in your heart.

So Ian and began a dialogue – Maria joined in – about not quitting on his poetry. Months went by between conversations, and initially, Ian was combative and skeptical. He really needed to be persuaded.

We talked about the importance of reading poets (I shipped him Hafiz and some of the great Irish poets, Ian has an Irish poet vibe going). He is willful and independent, one of the things I love about him and we went back and forth, usually in the barn after a shearing. Ultimately, no one can tell him anything. He has to come to it himself.

He was shocked by what I told him, he had no sense of himself as a poet. I think I scared the hell out of him, as I have a habit of doing.

A few months ago, Ian called me and said he wanted to keep his poetry alive, and I told him about the many poetry groups (all over the Internet too) which hosted readings and shared work in coffee shops, bookstores, and all across the Internet.  Young poets formed groups to support one another. Ian had no idea this poetic infrastructure existed.

These ideas intrigued him. I peppered him with links and stories about poetry readings, poetry clubs, and college poetry classes. I said he was not alone in this.

Ian seemed a little alone in the world when we first met a bit at a loss about his life and his future.  Shearers can find work, but it is almost impossible to make a living now.

But he is very clear about poetry, whatever else he does. He loves writing it, reading it, and thinking about it. It is, I believe, who he is.

I understand the importance of encouragement for creative people, I understand it because I never had much.

So I never forget to encourage people when I can and when they want it. It often makes all the difference, especially to the young, but to people at any age.

Mostly, we encouraged him. We read his poetry and told him it is exciting, and original, and the people we showed it to loved it. Ian is the real deal.

If you want to help somebody like that, you have to stick with them, you have to show up, you have to be there, you have to be willing to be a pest and annoyance. And you have to know when to quit. I had no sure idea of where Ian would go. But I knew his poetry was very good.

In recent weeks, some of Ian’s dreams are coming to life. He went to one poetry reading in Saratoga, but panicked on the way and didn’t. Ian went online and so did I and we found some possibilities.

Tonight, I learned about monthly poetry readings held at our local bookstore, Battenkill Books. New and young poets go there all the time to read their work for the first time and share it. The people there are notoriously gentle and encouraging.

This was the perfect place for him to start.

Ian, by now obsessed with Hafiz, jumped at the idea when I called him. This was different, I was very happy. I said we’d meet him and take him out to dinner and go with him to the reading. Great, he said, he had only one condition, that he got to pay for the dinner.

Deal, I said.

Then he really threw me. He said he had taken the first steps to start a blog and put his poems online.  His website is not a blog, I told him, but a free Google listing. You can access some of his poems here. The site is called IanMcRaePoetry, and he plans to upgrade it with photos and some writing about himself.

It’s happening for him.

This is a big first step for him.

Ian has come a long way in his desire to write his poetry and share it with the world. Those first conversations seem like many years ago.

He likes his job at the slate factory, which gives him a good, safe base from which to launch this part of himself. Poets, like musicians, need day jobs, and Ian understands that.

But I saw in Ian something I  recognized – the poetry was in his soul, and it needs to come out, whatever he does. And I know now that it will come out.

Ian’s reading is tentatively scheduled for later this month.  I don’t have a date yet.

We would love to go if he wants us to be there, we’ll stay home if he doesn’t.

This morning, he sent me a text message: “Hey, thanks for that Hafiz book, prayer poetry seems to be a balance and craft of small things, really cool stuff. It was really helpful talking with ya, being told that you can do something you like doing. I started putting some poems up on a website and it finally shows up on Google as Ian McRae Poetry if you ever want to check it out. I want to keep in touch, sir, you’re Alright people.”

I did check it out. A list of his poems is right there.

Thanks, Ian, that is a great compliment to me. You’re an Alright person yourself, and maybe together we can do some Alright stuff.