As Glaciers Move: Selected Poems and Prose Presenting a Progression of Perceptions

By Joseph Whitson

As Glaciers Move, through poetry and prose, explores how a person's life experiences and observations may affect his or her perceptions of the world. This exploration (with one of the first poems written by the author) begins in 1975 and proceeds through five decades, including topics such as birth, childhood, personal growth, war, nature, depression, religion, marriage, anger and pain. How the author perceives the world at each stage in his life is not only expressed in the poems and prose but also by the subtle or not so subtle change in topics (experiences and observations).
The author presents this book in its entirety as a metaphor: as glaciers shape majestic mountain peaks and wondrous valleys, forces—influential persons, significant junctures and life-altering events—that we encounter in our lives shape the way we act and think, affecting the way we “see” people, events and society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543909982

Book preview

As Glaciers Move

Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Whitson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher. Contact the publisher by email: [e-mail].

eBook ISBN 978-1-54390-998-2

Printed in the United States

For Vickie & Melodie

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE ARÊTE

KHMER ROUGE, 1975

PRIORITY OF THE POET

THESE WRITINGS

SEEKING MY VOICE

REFUGEES

STRANGER

THESE CHILDREN

THE ROOM

GRADUATION DAY, 1971

COLLEGE CAFETERIA, EARLY ONE MORNING

EVOL

FRIEND OR FOE

SUPERCILIOUS

PREFACE

GREATNESS

THE MARGINALIZED

THE UNFAMILIAR

AT THE HEARTH

THE ANCIENT’S MESSAGE

BEASTS

SAN PABLO AVENUE

AN OLD MAN

ANOTHER OLD MAN

LOVELY FRIEND, FOREVER

TO THE LIGHT

SONGS OF GIANTS

I LEAD

ORION

PERCEPTIONS OF A 30-YEAR-OLD, ABRIDGED

PART TWO HORN

BIRTH

CHILDREN AT PLAY

SING THE SONG

DREAMS

DISCERNMENT

THE SONG OF LIFE, A PARODY

THE MOVIE HOUSE

DIFFERENT

A BACKPACKER’S TALE

NURSERY RHYME

ONE MOMENT

RINGS ON THE TABLE

PROCLAMATION

PRUNED TREES

ALGEBRA

STONE AND ICE

THE ALLEY

THE FAITH

THE FALLEN

THE BLOCK PARTY (THE SUBTLETY OF BEING)

SOMETIMES

PSALM OF A TREE

THREE TREES

CLIFF CREEK CANYON

PART THREE CIRQUE

AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF THE LIGHT

FAMILY PICTURES

AN ACCOUNT OF THE GUN WITH A STRANGER

DRIVING ALONE

GUN POINTED AT ME

IN FIDELITY

THE WIZARD

REMINISCING

AT THE DINNER TABLE, 1970

MY PERCEPTIONS THIS DAY

EXTRINSIC

LIFE LINES

EXPRESSIONS

SEEING

MEMORY OF A POEM

BELIEF IN HUMANITY

MY DANCE

AQUARIUM

ANGER

PAIN AND ITS SIBLINGS

FATALISM?

ACCEPTANCE

GRAY SKY

MY HONEST SELF

THE CRAZY LADY NEXT DOOR

THE STRANGER AND I

Preface

This publication includes a selection of my poems from 1975 to 2017 and comments and observations, written as prose pieces, from my journals (1977 to 2015). This book also includes a small selection of revised or rewritten poems from Stone and Ice (2004), my first book of poetry.

All the poems in this book are modern free verse. I like this type of poetry because of the flexibility it allows me in developing poetic sounds. And although I do not use traditional meter and rhyme schemes, I take full advantage of all other poetic devices, such as metaphor, simile, assonance, alliteration, connotation, consonance, repetition and imagery, to name a few. For all my poems, I choose words and design line breaks and stanzas with intent to present as best as possible my visions and emotions.

I annotated some of the poems in this book, but only when I felt it was necessary to develop the theme (progression of perceptions) further by placing them in context (time, location or both).

Of course, I have not written this book alone in a cave. The following are the extraordinary people who have been most helpful in assembling this manuscript or who have been most influential in my creative life, in general.

Vickie Whitson, my wife of 38 years, encouraged me to write (and offered emotional support) throughout all these years.

Melodie McAlpin proofed and critiqued all the poems and prose of this book,