Publisher's Synopsis
From Both Sides of Creation is my first professionally published collection of poetry. The poems within are a mixture of free verse and more traditional rhymed, formulaic poems, such as sonnets and roundels and discuss a broad variety of topics. The collection is divided into two major sections based on Genesis chapter 1, verse 1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The first major section, then, is "heaven," which offers poetry that discusses topics that we might consider to be sacred: heaven, hell, creation, judgement, life, death, prayer, sexuality and sin. The second section is "earth," which includes poetry that discusses topics of a more secular nature: art, science, history, mythology, life, death and human nature. While I consider my poetry to be of a more light-hearted nature compared with many other popular writers these days, I am not opposed to using darkness as a tool when a topic requires it. As a result, there are some poems that do delve into darker ideas, such as date rape and even murder, in one case. You will even find one or two "naughty words" in the secular section. Rest assured, however: I discuss these heavier topics from a Christian perspective; they are a part of reality, though, and I try to keep my poetry-even the more fantasy-oriented poetry-grounded. Still, because of these darker topics, I do urge parents to familiarize themselves with the poetry in this collection before allowing younger children to read it on their own. But I do not want to leave this summary there. Please understand that I am a light-hearted person, and prefer to write poetry that is more light-hearted itself. As a result, I hope that you will find my work overall to be the kind that leaves you smiling or, at the very least, leaves you thinking, "Gee, this Mittendorf guy is a bit quirky." After all, how many poets write poems that poke fun of their own last names? How many poets rewrite biblical passages into limericks? How many poets will write sonnets that make fun of Captain Hook, Pinocchio or topics like time travel? If you'll please pardon me for quoting . . . me, I shall summarize my own poetic philosophy: "If you're not smiling when you read my stuff / then I'm not doing my job well enough." It is my goal to bless my readers. I want to leave you smiling, smirking, snickering, snorting or simply drooling with laughter. Please enjoy my poetry and be blessed by it.
