Shades of Gray
Into the Light
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
FALL-(Other than "Roses are red violets are blue" poems, this was my first poem of any recognition written at age eleven as a homework assignment.)
FALL-God made the world, He then made us all, then He put all His secrets in the season of Fall. He had the leaves painted with colors so bright that people would gaze at their whispering flight. So whenever you stop to look at the trees, or smell of the flowers or glance at the bees, just remember one thing, that God made us all and then put all His secrets in the season of Fall. 1952
INTO THE LIGHT-From the darkness I have stumbled, my soul's eyes squinting from the light. Years ago my thoughts I wrote while dwelling in the dark, from that wounded heart how easily they bled. Words come now once again, but words of hope instead of words of woe. Words that whisper to my soul to tell me once more hope is for the living. For to live is to hope, to be that person I set out to be. Now once again I am. 1990
WITHOUT A WORD-The loudest sound I never heard was when she left without a word. I thought our world would be alright but somehow things changed overnight. The subtle things like holding hands or sharing dreams and making plans. Without a word I lost my friend, now silence echoes once again. 1987
DEBT-Born of war. World War Two. A war of meaning, fought because there was no choice." The only thing we have to fear is fear itself " roared Roosevelt as we stood together with no doubts. Years later on many bloody shores that war came to an end, just in time for the Korean conflict and Viet Nam. Iraq and Afganistan lay in wait. Onward we trudge as men do battle for causes sometimes unclear, just so men can still do battles. Gaining what? More debt it seems until we burst at the seams. To owe more than we can repay to countries that smile as they ask us to sign on the dotted line. Debts our children's children will have to repay leaving little room for their own survival. No debt of gratitude, just a dollar then worth thirty cents. 2006
BELIEVE-There is no star that shines above we cannot have with hope and love. There is no mountain we can't climb while there is hope and there is time. There is no ocean we can't sail while faith and love and dreams prevail. While natural things in life are free time takes them all eventually. From vastness of the endless space God gave to us this time and place. He molded us with His great hand and gave us power to understand. So let us conquer and achieve, the world is ours if we believe. 1972
DEVIL CAT-The year was 1947 and dad didn't own a car. Every morning he rode the bus to work. Long hours and hard work were just a part of the times. I can't remember having a dog or cat at that time, but I do remember dad having pigeons. They roosted on our roof and every evening we knew when dad was almost home because two of them would take off for the bus stop. Soon we'd see dad walking down the street with a pigeon on his head or shoulder. Every morning the same two pigeons hitched a ride on dad to the bus stop until he boarded and then flew back home. I remember climbing our back door screen at six years old to the roof to hand feed them and listen to them coo. They made a mess on the roof but we loved them all. Our next door neighbor had a big ugly tomcat that my older sister called "Devil Cat" because he once caught one of our pigeons and ate it. Whenever he came around we threw rocks at him. We hated that cat! One summer we took a vacation to the Ozarks aboard a Greyhound bus and were gone a week. When we got back home every pigeon was gone. Dad said "That damn cat did it!" I figured he was right because it avoided us even more than usual. About a month later we awoke one morning to find "Devil Cat" had been run over and his head was crushed and one eye was popped out. I was glad but my sister had nightmares for months afterwards. She said every time she closed her eyes old "Devil Cat" was there starring with that one eye. (Probably looking for another pigeon!) 2006
YOUR SAY-Love them now with all your might, kiss their lips and hold them tight, tell them that they are just right for they will leave you overnight. As they grow encourage them, play and read and talk with them, someday they will look back when you're no longer guiding them. Children grow and go their way, never though do their thoughts stray, in their hearts both night and day you will always have your say. 2006
REAL-My TV remote fell to the floor as I responded "ouch" it missed by eighteen inches where I lay on the couch. It seems that we respond at times to those things that we feel and bring into existance those images not real. When we can understand this our dreams will be unfurled and as we change our thinking we then will change our world. 2007
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
SHADES OF GRAY-INTO THE LIGHT is a journey. A collection of stories told in poetic verse and prose of the layers of the human spirit. Stories of life and love and joys and sorrows chronicled by dates in random order taken from events in life.
Stories of fact and fiction beginning in DARK SHADES before migrating through the MEDIUM SHADES of life into the eventuality of LIGHT SHADES where hope always springs eternal when willing souls refuse to give into anything less than they deserve. SHADES of GRAY-INTO THE LIGHT is a story of change! A story of facing challenges head on that we sometimes create ourselves as life hands them to us allowing us to make the choices that dictate where our lives will go.
We stand on the threshfold of change where hopes rewards are but a few steps away as long as we dare to dream!
About the Author
I am a midwestern native dwelling in the land of OZ. Born in the early forties I thought this was the place to be until I first saw those movies displaying hills and mountains and oceans whereas I anxiously left Kansas City at the age of seventeen to join the Navy and see the world. Once my tour was over I settled in Bakersfield California where I drove a produce truck earning over eighty dollars a day at the age of twenty one in 1962. On a spontaneous trip back to Kansas City I ended up stranded, got married, got divorced, then got married for real the second time. For sixteen years! We had two beautiful daughters, but somehow still ended up divorced. Addressing my depression I began to write as a form of therapy, but not until I found myself forced to learn the ropes fast when both my daughters came to live with me did things really change. As a single dad raising two girls my eyes were about to see the real world for the first time. I worked from eight am. until nine pm. for most of those years and everyone at work knew my daughters voices by heart when answering the phone as they would frequently hear their voices asking "Is my dad there?!" At the time it seemed like a struggle, but we made it through. Now those girls are beautiful wives and mothers and I'm a proud grandfather of four where my world is still blooming everyday right before my eyes.