Michael Yarbrough was born in 1951, and raised in San Diego, California. In late 1974, he took up once more an effort to teach himself to write that had begun at the age of 14.
Writing was "the only thing that makes my life".
He began as a prose writer, having long given up an ambition to write poetry. Only at the age of 43, in response to a personal problem, did he once more attempt poetry. Most of his verse he has written only since coming to Korea, where he teaches English.

He has been published twice on e-zines:
http://www.poetrymagazine.com for April, 1998;
and http://www.forpoetry.com
(Click "Archives", then the author's name).

This year, he finished a 25 page epic poem,
"Let No Hells Halls Hold the Emperor
(A Tale of Byzantium)"
about the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, and his empress and niece, Martina, confronting Islam's first onset in the early 7th century.

"The Stalinist Becomes Bogomil"
is the author's idiosyncratic reflection of the Viet Nam era as well as a metaphor of the inner life of his youth.