Evaluating the book

As with any creative work, the creator is the one that comes to know when the work is done. The most recent poems in the fourth collection have a theme, loosely as it is, looking back, seeing things from a different perspective, realizing things in those moments of hindsight. It is in those moments of self discovery that one can step outside self imposed boundaries, to know the other side of life.

The four collections represent a time span of fifty five years, with the first poems out in 1970, progressing through the fifty five years of paddling through life to get upstream. By the time I got there, the world was a different place, Half a century brings a lot of change, and customs. What also changes is the voice that comes forth each twenty years, give or take, to pen the lines of the different collections. That voice changes too. It gets trickier finding the little Muse in the darker areas of Mu where they hang out drinking hard cider, telling wild stories. Mostly made up. They're known liars.

The feedback from the reviews of the recent publication of my other book of poetry "A Stranger in the Garden", in English and Spanish. Reading the words from the reviews has been almost cathartic, noting the connections to the poems by the readers, how they were moved by the words. That is the highest reward for any writer, hearing their work was enjoyed, their words were meaningful. For me, the real task of the poet is connecting the reader to the same emotional energy the poet put into the lines they are reading. Without the emotional connection, the lines don't speak.