Follow Me...The Hill...To Climb (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798894857404)

What do we have in a book of poetry? Poems!

This book is for you who know the joys of stretching in realms of possibility, who believe poetry can be sheer indulgence. This book is aimed to satiate you and to help alleviate some of the pain implied in the question, "Isn't there more to life than this?"

The name of the book itself indicates that the poems are at least loosely categorized into three sections.

"Follow Me..." has poems dealing with the successes and failures, the desires and hesitancies in following Christ. This is by no means strictly a book for Christians; the poems explore what it is like to follow any person, cultural norm, dogma or whatever. Why follow? Why not just be yourself? (Don't expect any clean, dogmatic answers-just think.)

"The Hill..." deals with challenges of living, poetically speaking. The poems are wide ranging in subject matter and in poetic format. I enjoyed writing (and reflecting on) "A Creek's Woes," which expresses challenges of a small stream trying to live happy in spite of development all around it. I can relate to the struggles expressed in this free verse poem. A triolet (explained in the book) is the format that best strengthens the message in "Words That Hurt." How easy for any of us to launch a barrage of hurting words with devastating effects.

"To Climb" is the third section of poems, many dealing with challenges of life and the benefits and costs of making an assault on those challenges. There will be successes and failures. How do we process them? How do we (or should we) keep climbing?

I hope these poems give you a good stretch and a challenge. They are served for you; indulge yourself.