Robert Boates, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is a Canadian poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

. In 1989 he suffered a head injury

Head injury

Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....

 which caused brain trauma

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...

, damaging the language center

Language center

The term language center refers to the areas of the brain which serve a particular function for speech processing and production.- Current scientific consensus :...

 of his brain

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

. His poetry, which is clear, erudite, well-crafted, intelligent, and economical, "provides a literary voice for survivors of brain trauma, documenting his passage in a second life." In 2006 he published He Carries Fear with Cactus Tree Press. His style, in its contemporariness-without-ornament, can be reminiscent of Larry Levis

Larry Levis

Larry Patrick Levis was an American poet.-Youth and Education:Larry Levis was born the son of a grape grower; he grew up driving a tractor, picking grapes, and pruning vines of Selma, California, a small fruit-growing town in the San Joaquin Valley...

.