POETRY

This book of poetry spans two decades of my life and my heart.
This book is not just a book of poetry. Rather, it is a book of insights about life that gleaned personally over two decades. More than the entertainment value the poems may provide, I share with you something much deeper. To assist you, I have tried to categorize the themes in chapters and provide explanatory endnotes and cross-references.
My first poem, "RUNNING," was written in 2002 during a time of turmoil in my life. I was looking for an answer as to why my life seemed to be going downhill. "RUNNING," therefore, was written with a negative bias toward myself. The poems that followed were largely based on experiences that, in one way or another, also touched my heart. I call poetry 'The Music of My Heart" because, in them, my heart speaks, singing a fanciful or heavy song, or something in between.
I write in a style I call "freelance." They may rhyme or they may not rhyme, or they might be a mixture of both. Almost all poems are metaphors. Almost all bear a message that is usually expressed in the last verse. I often personify "inanimate" objects.
When I begin a poem, I have no idea, whatever, of what a poem is about to express. I just let my heart speak. I never plan a poem: a word or phrase randomly pops into my mind, I sit down, and I let my heart say what it tells me it has to say. Only at the end do I know what I have just written and give it a title.
The first half of the book contains the lighter poems, and the second half contains heavier moods and themes. The transition occurs in PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. The poems are sectioned according to theme, but there is considerable overlap. I have provided explanatory endnotes, especially for the poems of PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND which may have esoteric references (e.g., "DEVIL'S TABLE," "THE DEVIL'S PRICE"). If, however, you, the reader, derive a personal insight/benefit from any given poem, I suggest you refrain from reading the endnote. Doing so could change the benefit you derive. I emphasize that this is your book to derive whatever you might.
I purposely left UNIVERSE, the most important chapter, to the end, as UNIVERSE expresses the denouement of my life.