Cosmos is a flower. Cosmos Screen is a patch of cosmos flowers observed at the age of five; iconic pleasant first memories for the author. It is from this screen that he relates the story of his life. It is also the screen beyond which he relates something of his ancestry. The story follows the author from that cosmos screen in rural southern Alabama in 1930, through the Great Depression of the thirties, World War 11, his college years, then through his professional development as an artist educator, and describes his travels to forty-six countries. Throughout all of this the author threads stories of his secret struggles to satisfy his sexual desires while maintaining the secret of his, and his older brother's, homosexual life. Religion, racism, homophobia and poverty are described as issues against which the author struggles along with the alienation that these issues develop for the author and for his brother. Intriguing stories told with analytical insight.