author's View through poetry

Opening a Chrysaline Heart" is something of a milestone for me. I have been 'penning lines of poetry' for more than fifty years. And yes, the bleeding heart sort, captivated by observing social issues through the lens of what could be instead of the other one, that costs to peer through. Just didn't have the ha'pence for a peek. Thing is, looking back, I had the right lens, I was simply looking through it from the wrong end. The cheeky aspect to my demeanor derives of my other life, writing satire. Just in my nature. Fifty years of penning lines of hope against the real world, one becomes cheeky automatically.

It is possible for one to gathering substantial information over the course of fifty years to equate to fifty years of knowledge, not just bits and pieces that add up to a roster of one's past. Those changes in perspective, from direct experiences is what filters through the poet', either through the heart or directly through the brainpan, and that, makes every difference in the poet's voice. The poetry in this book exemplifies that through the changes in my voice over the course of those years.

I can only imagine that most writers who use the term poet, have one or more poems they have penned in their time that might be said to be their favorite(s). A poem that sort of defines their core personality or general attitude. One that brings satisfaction and a certain joy of accomplishment. It could be said it makes the heart smile. I leave one such poem I wrote in 1975 during my senior year in college, NAU in Flagstaff, Arizona. One minor was in philosophy. I gravitated towards Eastern Philosophy.

Questions

from

on Seeking the Way

V

The stillness of evening, and the hush  cast in

moonlight, brought peace within the courts,

and the murmur of bubbling water in the fountains

lent melody to the seeking minds,

and the student asked the master, and what direction

do I best seek my way, and find peace?

And the master beckoned for the lad, handing him his cup

before pouring from his right side, into the empty vessel

saying, what I accomplish is the outcome of my trials,

and so saying, poured full his own cup from the left

and said, filling the cup measures a life span

as the cup must first begin empty.

And the seeker sipped his tea in silence,

pondering with riddles of the young

and felt the sweetness of Spring air

settling in the warm currents about, like an old

Spring breeze of his past, come back again

since his sojourn to seek the way.

And the student asked the master, and what way

do I have, to know I have sought the best direction?

The breeze ruffled gently the robes of the

master, for it teased him into a smile and carried

the answer into the night, as the master slurped his tea

stirring the crickets in the fields

The poetry is organized in four sections, representing each time period the poetry was written over the course of those fifty years, beginning in 1979, when I penned my first lines of poetry. The subject was of Love.

When looking back over those years of my poetry it becomes clear to me that the lines of poetry I penned over the years have not changed all that much, on the issues. What has changed over those years is the voice penning the lines.

What changes over time, along with one's perspective, are the social issues addressed through the poems in this book. My poet's heart began as one that felt the pangs from certain social issues, past and present. It would seem to be the duty of any poet writing from the heart.