Shortly after my wife and I decided to separate, at the end of May, 1999, I began writing what turned out to be this collection of poems. Over the course of the year of turmoil that followed, I also shot a series of black and white photographs. I recognized a certain synergy between the photographs and the poems -- and thus this book.
All of the photographs are from a single roll of film that was in one of my cameras from the Fall of 1999 until springtime 2000 and are presented here (basically) in chronological order as shot.
The children in the pictures are: my dauntless daughter, Emily; and my comical but sensitive son, Christopher. My mother makes a radiant cameo appearance; the landscapes are from my beloved Maxwell Settlement, Ontario.
The poems are comprised of: direct responses to issues and situations that arose during the marriage breakup; some general observations on life and living; a goodly number of Buddhist-inspired reflections; and I indulged myself with the inclusion of some re-workings of older poems. Rather than attempting to group the poems thematically, I decided to place them in alphabetical order by title.
The main title, 'See Change' is an affirmation on living; it is also a play on words relative to the paradigm shift that resulted from the disintegration of my marriage and family.
I offer this as a wobbly walk by a struggling bodhisattva-to-be -- sometimes on a path of sorrow through the valley of the shadows; sometimes through the flowers of happiness in the high meadows of serenity. My intention, always, is to walk the Middle Way.
bittersweet memory
taste of autumn childhood
"Daddy, can you write your name
on a piece of paper so I won't forget you?"
