WHEN THE MUSES CAME TO CALL
Sometimes, I answered their knocking.
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I've tried to make the poems accessible to the average reader, many of whom have had a school-boy's aversion to poetry because of the usage of archaic terms and effete, flowery language. To many people, poetry is only for "Sissies." So, I've made liberal use of the vernacular and paid only lip service to rhyme and meter. This is my way of saying: "Read the thoughts and emotions, not the technical structure. You will not be able to count the syllables and come up with any of the classical styles of poetry." If this offends the purists, so be it. I've included a few other types of writing that, in prose rather than in verse, I try to explain my inner feelings and emotions. As I review what I've written over these many years, I do so in amazement and wonder. Did I really write that? If I did, why? It's as if I step outside of myself and look at some alien creature. I think that I had the termerity to write this book in order to explain some of the vagaries and unexplainable facets of my life. But, who can explain one's life? I do know that I had to try. The older that I become, the more that I believe that there resides in all of us, whether or not it's ever acknowledged, a company of muses. All one has to do is to answer the door when they knock.
Donald Smith, 2008, in the 78th year of life.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
This book is a very personal collection of poems and other writings that were written over a period of more than fifty years. They were written at times of strong emotional feelings about love, death, triumphs, tragedies and , even, the most mundane of life's events. It took fifty years for the author to gain the insight , the perspective and the courage to reveal his feelings for all to see. He hopes that the readers will see and recognize some of the emotion that plays such a big role in the lives of all of us.
About the Author
Don Smith is a retired high school principal , superintendent and university instructor. After retirement he was a regional sales' manager for a photography company. Since 1970, he has traveled to 52 countries and, often, gives travel talks to area organizations. Currently, he helps to train student doctors at area medical schools, volunteers for The Ohio Agency on Aging, sings in his church choir and tries to stay young in body and spirit. He holds BA, MA and Ph.D. degrees in education. He lives in Mogadore, Ohio with his wife, Joy, and his attack cat, Lily. He and his wife have two children, Kathy and Michael, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He has no illlusions about making a living as a poet. He prefers not to starve to death.