Lee was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in another century. He studied five years for the Roman Catholic priesthood before leaving the seminary, and devoting himself to the study of failure. He draws inspiration from poets living and dead, and in the past twenty years has met as many not yet dead poets as he can.

Lee is the author of five books of poetry, Say Anything (Plain View Press, 2024), Darwin’s Garden (Moon Tide Press, 2019), Wheelchair Samurai (Plain View Press, 2011), Ghost Diary (Terrapin Press, 2003) and Beyond Rescue (Bombshelter Press, 1992).

Lee has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Don’t Leave Hungry: 50 Years of Southern Poetry Review (University of Arkansas Press, 2010), The Mysterious Life of the Heart (The Sun Publishing Co., 2009), Mischief, Caprice, & Other Strategies (Red Hen Press, 2002) and Grand Passion: the Poetry of Los Angeles and Beyond (Red Wind Books, 1995).

His poems have appeared in many journals, including The Harvard Review, Poetry Northwest, The North American Review, The Southeast Review, The Atlanta Review, The Green Mountains Review, The Sun, Poetry East, Nimrod, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, The Southern Poetry Review and others. He has published reviews in Poetry International, Smartish Pace, Poetry Flash, The Los Angeles Review, and the online journal Pedestal. He is a winner of The Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. He is a member of the Northern California Book Reviewers and the National Book Critics Circle and a Contributing Editor for Poetry Flash.