Publisher's Synopsis
Love poems and writings that capture the soul of the poet. Each piece written while he is part of a greater whole. A finer self. His best work has the singular conformity of having been written after he had stopped trying to write. Descriptions of the writing of his prose poem "The Witch Doctor's Son" his poems "Wish Upon" and "Within Your Eyes" and his play "Comrades In Arms" are given by the poet below.[About my poem "The Witch Doctor's Son".My local newspaper was running a Short Story Contest. They wanted short short stories of exactly 50 words (not including the title). I decided to enter the contest and sat down to write my 50 word short short story. After about 45 minutes I had completed a short short story of which I wasn't happy with but which satisfied the 50 word criteria. I was tired and walking out of the door of my room when I had the feeling I had to write something. I sat down and wrote "The Undertaker's Widow". It came out fast and in one draft and at exactly 50 words. That was much better than my first attempt, and I thought I was completely happy with it. As I was halfway out the door again another feeling that I had to write something came to me. No words, just the feeling. I sat down and wrote "The Witch Doctor's Son". It came out fast and in one draft, and, as with "The Undertaker's Widow", without any changes and at exactly 50 words. "The Undertaker's Widow" is about my mother, and "The Witch Doctor's Son" is about my father and myself. I was a young man and my father was very ill and near the end of his life when these prose poems were written.][About my poem "Wish Upon"."Wish Upon" is a rhyming poem and I felt, as I was writing it, somewhere between prose and poetry. The inspiration behind the poem is expressed in the last line, "Let our Love guide the star". When my wife and I were yet to find security in our relationship, when the height of intensity in our Love for each other coincided with the greatest insecurity, I felt that what we were going through was not limited to us and our experience but was universal, and that elemental forces were at play. Furthermore, that the decisions we made, the faith we kept, influenced those forces. That they were watching us to see what we would do.][About my poem "Within Your Eyes"."Within your eyes" is about discovering that my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world. It was written in response to some unkind words said about her. It is a rhyming poem and took five days to write. With many stops and starts. I knew there was a truth there, but it wasn't until about a year after I had written the poem that I realized that truth myself. The poem led me to what my mind had no hope of fully understanding on its own.][About my play "Comrades In Arms"."Comrades In Arms" is an attempt to capture in words the process that goes on in the sub-conscious when as an artist I try to reach for that "finer self". It is a struggle between the male and female aspects of my psyche and the resolution is both a rejection and a consummation. Attempting to be a depiction in the external world of what happens in the mind, the play is at times sexual and aggressive but never predictable. "Comrades In Arms" was written one long weekend shortly after some of the events depicted in the play occurred. It is a play that can be performed or read. Ancient Greece meets Modern Academia. It is also a love story. A play about the coming together of two people. Its setting is the hallowed precincts of academe. In an atmosphere supposedly removed from the realities of everyday life, hard issues are discussed and debated and base emotions shown. Cast List - Dr. Susan Childe, Mr. Scott Ford, Dr. Thomas Stops, Dr. Simon Sharpe, Dr. Winton Sumertime and a Chorus of students.]
