Life Through My Glasses: Collected Poems, 1950–2011

By Herbert Siegel.

Life through My Glasses, a new collection of poems by Herbert Siegel, combines two additional art forms for added dimension and meaning, resulting in a unique approach, more functional than poetic icons of earlier eras. This, his fourth collection, presents a contemporaneously written continuum of life ensconced in many forms of poetry, including universal observations of nature, ancient storytellers, gastronomy, and biographies - usually ending with a touch of sardonic humor.

"Siegel's book contains poetry written in various formats. He experiments with the Japanese haiku, senryu, and tanka and masterfully constructs a triptych with the title piece in the collection. The bulk of his work, though, is in the style of rhymed verse popularized by poets such as Edgar Guest...True to the definition of a poet laureate, he is also unafraid to comment on current events and political figures in his verse. Yet like most accomplished poets he is a keen observer of the natural world and prone to introspection and philosophy. It is evident that some of the pieces in this collection were written merely to amuse the author and his readers, but a few such as "Pay Me No Mind border on the sublime."
---The US Review of Books

"Life Through My Glasses" is a winner of the coveted GOLD SEAL AWARD OF LITERARY EXCELLENCE.
---Trafford Publishing

"Life through My Glasses is beautiful an intriguing form combining poems in an unusual shape, comparing life and nature nature and resurrection life immortal. I cannot add or take away from this masterpiece."
---Yvonne Byrd, 2006 Senior Poet Laureate of Texas

"Life through My Glasses reads beautifully, Herb. It's a grand finale for your book a masterpiece."
---Dr. Kim Gorman, University of Kentucky, University of Houston

"I have to say I feel enriched and inspired having read through your work. Thank you so much!"
---Andrea Strudensky, DLitt, Faculty, Vanier College, Montreal, Quebec

Herbert Siegel, PhD, has been a CEO of major public companies and the recipient of numerous professional certifications, awards, and publications. He also holds degrees in business and international law. Previous collections include Poems From My Drawer (2007) and Poems For The Universe (2009). His recent awards, among others, include 2009 New York State Senior Poet Laureate; the Ellen La Forge Foundation Poetry Prize, published by Grolier of Cambridge; Sketchbook; the Voice of the Bards; and the 2010 Award of Excellence from the Poetry Institute of Canada.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jan 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466912328

Herbert Siegel.

Herbert Siegel, PhD, has been a CEO of major public companies and the recipient of numerous professional certifications, awards, and publications. He also holds degrees in business and international law. Previous publications include Poems From My Drawer (2007) and Poems For The Universe (2009). His recent awards, among others, include 2009 New York State Senior Poet Laureate; the Ellen La Forge Foundation Poetry Prize, published by Grolier of Cambridge; Sketchbook; the Voice of the Bards; and the 2010 Award of Excellence from the Poetry Institute of Canada.

Book preview

© Copyright 2012 Herbert Siegel.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Copyright excludes

Harriet Slaughter’s Cover and Interior Art,

Kenny’s Nostalgia Poem, and Jonathan’s Ode to a Mother

[e-mail]

Cover and Interior Art: Harriet Slaughter

Interior Design: Susan Siegel Dorn

Editor: Andrea Strudensky, MA-English Lit.

Scholarly Editor: Yvonne Nunn, 2006 Senior Poet Laureate of Texas

Contributing Editor: Dr. Kim Gorman

Printed in the United States of America.

isbn: 978-1-4669-0384-5 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-1232-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012900931

Trafford rev. 01/24/2012

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www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

phone: [phone] ♦ fax: [phone]

Contents

LIFE THROUGH MY GLASSES

WHERE DO PRAYERS GO?

AND OTHER OBFUSCATIONS

WHY ARE MANHOLE COVERS ROUND?

A LONELY CHAIR

IT’S NOT THE HEAT,

IT’S THE HUMILITY

FRACTURED PRISMS

GREETINGS

ALL ALONE

ALL ABOUT MONEY

HOPE IS NOT A PLAN

POETRY WITHOUT WORDS

LISTEN TO THE PAINTING

WATCH YOUR P’S AND Q’S

ALIBIS

IT’S ALL ABOUT APPEARANCES

RIPLEY CLOTHES

SQUARE WHEELS OF JUSTICE

INSPIRATION AND ME

HYPHENS & DASHES

BACK TO THE FUTURE

SERENDIPITY

HAIKU

SENRYU

TANKA

ONE-WAY MIRROR

PAY ME NO MIND

WHERE DO PRAYERS GO?

A PERSON WITHIN A PERSON

AND OTHER ANALOGIES

DEEP FREEZE

POSSESSED

ALISON SCHMIDT’S HOUSE

NEW TRIBES

PEOPLE POWER

FERTILE MINDS

THE ORACLE

THE ELDERLY COUPLE

TWO COUSINS

AMERICA’S ACT TWO

TONSORIAL SPLENDOR

GRANDETITA

A VETERAN’S PRISM

KENNY’S NOSTALGIA POEM

THE FISHERMAN

ATAVISTIC CONNECTIONS

STARING AT THE SUN

FRIENDS FOR ALL SEASONS

MR. PLUMBER’S PILLOW

A COUPLE OF KIDS

CREATIVI-TEA

IRONY

A PERSONAL CONUNDRUM

ONE DAY IN MAY

MUNIFICENT CARETAKER

FIVE COUPLETS

BREAD GIVERS

SOLDIER’S LAMENT

WANT ADS

CINQUAINS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFREY ROY

WELCOME LORI ROBIN

THE ANGEL, AMY HOPE

HEAVEN’S GIFT: JONATHAN STUART

GRANDSON KENNY

(KENNETH GEORGE)

WEDDING VOWS

FIRST MOTHER’S DAY

A WIFE

EULOGY FOR A MOTHER

A BROTHER’S LAMENT

A BROTHER LAMENT CONTINUES

A PERSON WITHIN A PERSON

THE FABULIST

AND OTHER HISTORIETTE

PEOPLE OF THE BOOK

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

AND HI-TECHNOLOGY

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

AND HI-TECHNOLOGY CONTINUED

CHANGING CRIMES

FOR CHANGING TIMES

FRITZ

(FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE)

SCHOPENHAUERISMS

(ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER)

SCHOPENHAUERISMS CONTINUED

(ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER)

THE TRIAD OF PINDAR*

(A TRANSLATION)

THE TRIAD OF PINDAR* CONTINUED

(A TRANSLATION)

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS

(A PRELUDE TO THE CONSTITUTION)

FICTITIOUS VALUES

ELECTORAL DYSFUNCTION

LEFT BANK

(PARIS, 19TH CENTURY)

GÖETHE

(JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GÖETHE,

1749-1832)

MAN AT LAMANCHA

BLUEBEARD

GYPSY

A WHODUNNIT?

A WHODUNNIT? CONTINUED

A WHODUNNIT? CONTINUED

THE FIFTH DIMENSION

(A FUTURISTIC POEM)

MUSIC OF A PAINTING

POETIC ANCESTRY

SUB-PRIME BAGGAGE

(THE 2008 MORTGAGE FIASCO)

GPS GONE WILD

GPS GOND WILD

CONTINUED

NO FUTURE IN THE PAST

THE DEAL

MIXING METAPHORS

GAS AT LAST

(@ $4.50 PER GALLON)

MILITARY SECRETS

(THE NSA)

FOOL’S GOLD

(THE WORST BOOK I EVER READ!)

POETIC MYTHOLOGY

BETWEEN FANTASY AND REALITY

(THE REAL YOU)

THE FABULIST

ALIAS PASTA

AND OTHER GASTRONOMY

THE LEGEND OF MONDELBRÖT

THE BALLAD OF THE PALATE

THANKSGIVING IN KANSAS CITY

BERRIED TREASURES

CAPTAIN BEN’S

SCRAMBLED EGGS

ALIAS PASTA

AGING AND OTHER

LIFE PHENOMENA

MEMORIES VS. EXPECTATIONS

HOROLOGICALLY CHALLENGED

MASQUERADE

YOUNG LOVE

FIRST YEAR OF MARRIAGE

WHO IS HAVING THIS BABY?

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

FIRST VALENTINE

(1956)

MOTHER-TO-BE

BUYOLOGY

DREAMS

FIRE IN THE BELLY

SANGUINITY

ECSTASY

DIETS

SMITTEN

TAKE A CHANCE

QUITTING

WILLS AND TESTAMENTS

MORTAL MALADIES

HAZE ON THE HORIZON

DYING TO LIVE

(A PROSE POEM)

DO THE MATH

PATIENT PENDING

IMAGINATION OR HALLUCINATION?

DYING

AGING

TALE OF THREE CITIES

AND OTHER LOCUS

THE GREAT WALL OF MEXICO

WILMINGTON

PONDERING DARFUR

A TRIP TO NOWHERE

OUTER SPACE, INNER WASTE

WAITING FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT

MONUMENTS

HOUSE OF PAIN

DEFROST AT HOME

BORN TO BE A BEACHCOMBER

NUCLEAR TASTELAND

SYLLABIC TONGUES

(AN INDIAN-YIDDISH POEM FOR PEACE)

EASTERN CULTURE WESTERN LAW

STAY-CATIONS

(THE 2009-10 RECESSION)

NEW BEGINNINGS

NEW BEGINNINGS CONTINUED

TALE OF THREE CITIES

TALE OF THREE CITIES CONTINUED

LIFE THROUGH MY GLASSES

AND OTHER

NATURAL WONDERS

THE SCIENCE OF A CEASELESS DANCE

THUNDERSTORMS

(A VOYAGE OF A FAIR WEATHER CLOUD)

LIGHTENING STRIKE

WELCOMING THE SUMMER SUN

CASTLES MADE OF SAND

WINTER SUN

INTERNAL, EXTERNAL, ETERNAL

(THE HOROLOGY OF TIME)

MUSIC OF POETRY

THE BIOLOGY OF LAUGHTER

(IT’S NO JOKE)

THE BIOLOGY OF LAUGHTER CONTINUED

(IT’S NO JOKE)

DID YOU SEE THE ALBATROSS?

DID YOU SEE THE ALBATROSS? CONTINUED

LUCK

SMALL TALK, LONG TALES,

BIG IDEAS…ABOUT SEX

FEAR

BROKEN GLASS

SAND IN MY SHOES

GOOD ADVICE

DEBRIS

TIME

REFLECTIONS

ACRONYMS OF LIFE

EMOTING

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

EROTIC DREAMS

MIRAGE

THE LAST DAY, THE VERY LAST

JONATHAN’S ODE TO A MOTHER

LIFE THROUGH MY GLASSES

LIFE THROUGH MY GLASSES CONTINUED

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LIFE THROUGH MY GLASSES

A contemporary continuum of a life ensconced in poetry including universal observations of nature, tales and stories, gastronomy, and historical biographies usually ending with a touch of sardonic humor.

Life%20Through%20My%20Glasses_CMYK_hires_L

"This collection is dedicated to the truth in poetry.

While not evidentiary, it lives eternally inside a poem."

WHERE DO PRAYERS GO?

AND OTHER OBFUSCATIONS

Why%20Are%20Manhole%20Covers%20Round_graysc

WHY ARE MANHOLE COVERS ROUND?

Why do we live two lives—one in concrete the other

in abstract?

Why do we dream different dreams on the same bed

at the same time?

Why does reality refuse to leave when I no longer believe in it?

Why do I agree with you when we are both wrong?

Why do I worry about old age when it doesn’t last long?

Why were sins innocent once?

Why does talent hit a target others can’t reach?

Why does genius hit one others can’t see?

Why do I want to die peacefully asleep while driving,

not yelling and screaming like my passengers?

Why does life duped by hope dance happily into the arms

of death?

Why is childhood the paradise of life when we look backward?

Why are manhole covers round?

Now that is something serious to think about!

A%20Lonley%20Chair%2c%20page%202_graysc.tif

A LONELY CHAIR

Always the butt, never the object

of whispers or shrieks, politics and dreams

among friends and lovers, or a family project.

Voices from above flow by my seams.

Overheard plans and schemes, good and bad,

money makers, heart breakers future and past,

some worked, some didn’t, somebody happy,

somebody sad.

Intrigues, affairs, jealousies or angst–none that last.

Sitter’s change, familiar voices come and go

like mosaics of spring, summer and fall,

each day new stories all heard from below,

told by fabulists slumping, squirming, sitting tall.

Posture and tales, one begets the other,

first time users signal dramas,

doting parents plop, elders ease down not to bother,

a lone sitter sighs, closes eyes to avoid traumas.

Who’da thought stage plays share a derriere?

A wooden frame drenched in fabric hears every day

of new emotions laid bare in this lonely chair,

ever-changing tales from a sale made on E-Bay!

IT’S NOT THE HEAT,

IT’S THE HUMILITY

Stripped naked ‘neath a furry robe

sweat makes life endurable

vanity the skin of soul is incurable

smarter for what passed, wiser for future’s probe.

Reason limited, often misunderstood

today’s confusion tomorrow’s intuition

thoughts shadow feelings appear as fiction

masks secrets, shame and good.

Time devours gives nothing back

mistakes recur a dice game of life

inner theatres of dreams our nightlife.

Prayers hide waiting to bushwhack.

Turn back to God they say

his music inspires dwarfed by his spires.

Hear the lust for submission from his choirs

promising the nether-life every day.

This life of cracked glass never mends,

glimpse the world since creation not our trespass

view it from inside our hourglass.

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FRACTURED PRISMS

Refracted lights allow us to see,

a spectrum that colors

self-righteousness with certainty.

So it is with moral conflicts,

that begin with certain clarity, but

belie the underside of destruction, and pity,

both last refuges of piety.

Since creativity, wars of certainty

ended in despoliation,

followed by a peaceful bereavement,

in generation after generation.

History records twenty-seven wars

since seventeen-hundred and seventy-six,

and twenty smaller conflicts in between.

Casualties were 3.2 million soldiers,

most of them unforeseen.

Over nine generations of young people lost forever

in the mad hypnotism reflected in war’s prisms.

The spectrum of war colors was stained ‘dread,’

in the fourth quarter of the Eighteenth Century,

when the Revolutionary and Indian Wars,

left forty-thousand dead.

The Nineteenth Century color was ‘Vermillion,’

after the War of 1812, the Civil War; and

the Spanish-American War, cost us another million.

Victories attained in the Twentieth Century

were Bloodstained.

WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf,

and twenty-six other minor conflicts

cost the lives of over two-million more young conscripts.

Now here we are at the twenty-first, a Century later,

sometimes the hated not the hater,

still fighting monsters, but

have we become one too?

Iraq, Afghanistan, this century’s quid pro quo,

thousands of casualties to date

and eighty-nine years left to go!

GREETINGS

Give me a hi-five handshake; pat me on my back;

Nod your head up and down,

or shout from across the room,

keep trying you’ll get my