Autobiography: Ms. Karen Lee Oliver was born on October 1, 1959, in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, to two wonderful parents, Leoneida Oliver, her mother, and Robert Fuller Oliver, her father. Ms. Oliver grew up in rural upstate New York until the age of thirteen, when she was awarded a scholarship for ballet study in New York City. Ms. Oliver remained in New York City, graduating from Rhodes Preparatory School with a Regents Scholarship in 1976. Ms. Oliver graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1981. She began writing poetry in 1986 and has written a total of five books for Xlibris Corporation. They are "Pergola," copyright 2002, "Tales From the Mirwood," copyright 2005, "Tranquility, Solitude and Other Poems." copyright 2015, "Flights From Fairyland," copyright 2017 and this particular book, "Thoughts." Book Synopsis: "THOUGHTS'' was written during a period of grief and illness. Ms. Oliver suffered after the death of her mother on January 11, 2018. Ms. Oliver wanted ''THOUGHTS" to be a dedication as well as a memorial to her mother, who had been her life-long friend and mentor. "THOUGHTS'' explores the devastating realities of grief we will all experience at some time in our lives, but many of us will never fully realize it as having any impact. Through poetic forms, these images of love and death, and grief are expressed to the reader with the hopes of gently relieving he or she of the terrible burden that oftentimes results from such harsh feelings. I hope, as the author, to be successful in this purpose and that you will enjoy reading my poems just for what they are, real poetry.