One of my great joys is reading aloud for audiences who take delight in frolicking with language. They enjoy not only the literal content of words in these and other poems, but also the aural sensuality of them, the rhythmic undulations, the melodic cling-binging belltones and thunderbooms above and beyond rational content.
Words can be infinitely more suggestive and stimulating than dictionaries make them out to be. In several of these poems I follow Lewis Carroll's lead in
Alice and Wonderland and intentionally create a "Jabberwocky" language, in which I juxtapose conventional words with nonsense-words that take on "sense" within their context by virtue of sound and placement — they may thwart the insecure, over-controlling egoist, but they will delight the playful, imaginative child within us.
Some of these poems are "speed-readers," designed to be read aloud as fast as possible — tongue twisting, exhilarating wordrides, as thrilling to write and read as they are delightful to listen to.
From nineteen books of poetry, I selected 50 poems for a compilation book entitled
Warrior, Lover, Mystic. The journey is inner and intangible. It is psychological and spiritual. At play in the fields of music and linguistic imagination, I dance and sing through all levels and colors of the rainbow spectrum of consciousness.
The conflicts contained in the
Warrior section are part and parcel of the interior journey of self-discovery. Initially in life, the first struggle is for self-realization. Later on, the individual is often at odds with a society that would destroy our authenticity to protect its own interests and promulgate its own values. Eventually, with luck, work, skill and courage, we may evolve through and beyond personal needs and concerns, and come to recognize the Other.
In
Lover, we discover desire, pleasure, and personal love — the many shades of passion, the colors of sensuality, the hues of affection, the dark nights of rejection, the bright light of love that's deep and true and lasting.
In
Mystic, we ascend into transpersonal domains of the psyche and the soul, soaring beyond egocentricity into the radiant realm of love and compassion for ourselves, our friends and compatriots, for all human beings throughout the world, and for all living plants and animals. Awakened Masters from cultures in virtually every historical era have spoken of these all-inclusive spheres of mind and soul, which are accessible to each and every one of us.
