Here are a few samples selected from the eighty-five poems in this volume.  If you decide to order this book, click on the email address at the bottom of the page.  Be sure to include the following in your message:  (1) title of book being ordered, (2) your name and mailing address.

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Fragments My world reveals itself in small fragments a bird-song here a headline there a thought daffodil dream dung hill you know – Each a jagged shard with puzzle edges hints it is part of something Big	Stories Coming to terms with the evidence we have thus far Homo Sapiens Sapiens, sole manifestation of self-awareness in this astounding Universe We alone ponder the fireworks we see above, around, below and in us We alone fall to our knees in wonder, terror and awe We alone ask, how? why? whereto? – gathering in small circles to hear poets, priests and physicists morph our questions into stories
Black Swallowtail I believe in the visible world there is no creature softer, more silent in flight, more gentle in its brush with life than this Black Swallowtail who has, uninvited, joined me for lunch Glamorous in black accessorized with yellow, blue, orange and white, she flutters in and out of purple petunia trumpets draped profusely from hanging baskets on the porch In my tattered gardening trousers and t-shirt, I am underdressed Her probing tongue searches deeply the heart of one blossom, then another and another. Now, as if satisfied, she lifts into the warm humid air to float away – only to drop and thrust again into other blooms ready to yield their ambrosia Ice cream is on my mind – and the ten thousand ways in which the intoxicating sweetness of our world calls us back for more	Awake Sooner or later he was bound to wake up Almost everyone does, if only briefly, at one time or another What no one would have predicted – Siddhatta Gotama has not slept again since the searing agony of his awakening to the world’s suffering which, to his dismay, he finds is his suffering also Madness grips him – Empathy Extremus Talk therapy and pharmaceuticals fail Though lured by Siren Denial’s sweet song, he refuses retreat back into sleep Awake, alert, agitated, alive, all accepted wisdom set aside He says goodbye to wife, children, all he’s known Across vast stretches of land and time and soul he roams One question drives his quest – In this astonishing world of beauty, awash in pain, where is peace found?
In Early Morning Hours You find me in early morning hours whether it be first light of summer dawn or winter darkness lingering far into daytime Whatever flux of light and shade given by earth's slant and spin you come from the vast silence of beginnings a presence beyond lip's mumble, pen's scratch, mind's fumble In early morning hours something Other	Wow Schoodic Point, Maine six years old first time here thunderous collision of waves against cliffs – light-dazzled towers of mist soar high above his head WOW, he shouts – and leaps wave after wave after wave wow/leap wow/leap wow/leap launch startled seagulls into flight
Psalm 152 High Mystery, did you arrange the Universe thus with all of its intricate workings? Or did it arrange itself? Is there a difference? Is this all from you? Or are you All? Like a small child my questions are endless – but I do not expect an answer nor do I want one Were you to address me in the language I know you would be less than I imagine, far less than I desire Your silence your darkness your absence hold me in their thrall	Homs, Syria March 3, 2012 Bereft, she stands amidst war-ravaged rubble of her home. Her child is dead. Her husband gone, some battle front, his whereabouts unknown. She prays angels may protect him, yet thinks death may be a better place than war She looks deep inside herself for solace – finds none, asks impenetrable darkness, How do I go on? Silence She waits amidst the rubble. Listens