Me, My World, and I

By A.V. Barber

The best book since 'Pick-Up Lines for Pensioners'
Miss Betty Jones

You just have to buy this book!
Miss Galena Sublime

You have no idea what it's like sitting on a shelf in the poetry section of a bookshop. Have you ever noticed how literature designated as being intellectual is always hidden like some top shelf publication in a sweet shop? I get so lonely down there in all that prehistoric dust. Truth be known, I get picked up less than Betty Jones at number 47 and shes 92!

As you might have gathered, I'm a little different, well some might even say special! I'm not so much a poetry book, more a biography of everyday living. Within my pages you will find the musings and poetry of an 'ordinary' bloke from down your street. This is the life and times of Joe average, a testament to life as you know it and a vote for the real world.

You could say I'm a snapshot of real life written by a real person. If you buy me I promise to sit on your coffee table and pretend to be intellectual, just think how much more sophisticated you will look!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477230619

A.V. Barber

Andrew Barber was born in 1969 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. He was educated at Glebe House in Norfolk and the Wisbech Grammar School. He didn’t write his first poem, “Britannia Rise”, until 2011, but his first collection, Me, My World, and I was published the following year. He works as a system architect and spends a lot of time travelling. He considers himself to be a normal bloke from down the street. And he is enthusiastic about writing poetry that is easy to read and easy to relate to.

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© 2012 by A.V. Barber. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   09/13/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-3059-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-3060-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-3061-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

Me

My World

I

The Farmer Said    (Nursery Rhyme)

Eulogy of the Great and Good

Britannia Rise

Lietuva

The Grass Is Greener

In Grandmother’s Arms

Dreaming

Ben

Yesterday Past

Time for Tea

A Call to Springtime

Just the Rain

Roller Coaster

Storm at Sea

Broken Love

Mended Love

The Moment

Hope’s Candle

Springtime’s Rise

Summer’s Dusk

Portrait of a Summer’s Morn

Summer Rose

Autumn’s Dawn

Autumn

Comes the Snow

Shades of Grey

Portent    (The First Chronicle—Part I)

Prophesy    (The First Chronicle—Part II)

Serpent    (The First Chronicle—Part III)

Awake—Sonnet 1 (Shakespearean Sonnet)

My Lady in White

Naked

The Lonely Widower

1909

Universe

Summer’s Blaze

The Coming of the Fairies

On Christmas Eve

The Same Christmas

Tiger (Nursery Rhyme)

The Riddle

Spark (Limerick)

The Best of British

One—Nil

Diamond Rose

Words

Finale

In Loving Memory

About the Author

This book is dedicated to all those who are a part of . . .

Me,

My World,

and I

Foreword

by Actress Lizzie Winkler

I was both honoured and delighted to be given the opportunity to write a foreword for Andrew’s book. His inspired writing allows us to reflect on our own significance (and insignificance) in the world. He invites us to ponder and marvel at the spirit of human endeavour and achievement at an individual level. The effect of Andrew’s work—writing that lets us see the world from his standpoint—was surprising to him and fascinating to me. In reading this book, not only do I feel I know him, but I also have come to know myself a little better.

Having just seen the London Olympics opening ceremony, I’m compelled to compare it with Andrew’s illustration of our place in the world. We think of the audience in the stadium as just a blur made up of tiny dots, yet each dot is an individual with his or her enormous expectations of what will unfold. Each person is privy to his or her own thoughts and fancies. Likewise, when viewing the thousands of volunteer performers (none of whom are known to us), we see only the collective—like a flock of birds or a shoal of fish—yet each one is living what is possibly his or her greatest moment. None of us really have the time or emotional energy to reflect on the lives of others. Andrew illustrates this beautifully, leaving us to contemplate our place in the universe with a newfound awareness of those who surround us. As an actor, I can relate to Andrew’s thought that we often live our lives through the expectations of others.

This book is a launch pad into the world of poetry with some insight into the thoughts and motives behind each poem. Still, the book leaves readers with plenty of room to think about and apply the words to their own experiences. This rich tapestry of ponderings offers something that everyone can relate to. From the child (The Farmer Said) to the teenager (Grass Is Greener) to the elderly and bereaved (In Grandmother’s Arms)—there is truly something here for everybody. As I turned the pages, I found myself thinking about an idyllic childhood, nursery rhymes, humour, hope, and wisdom. He even touches on the technicalities of verse and the state of society in Britain today. Bad news usually travels faster than good, and this leaves us to consider the impression we are making on the rest of the world. It is my hope that events such as the opening ceremony of our Olympic Games has done at least a little to put the Great back into Britain. I hope it gives the author and his readers every reason to look to the future with optimism.

This evocative book challenges and inspires us to make a difference—even if only in our own lives—by rejecting our mundane routines and opening our eyes to the possibilities of a greater, brighter world. Reader, read on!

A Poet’s View

by award-winning poet Kelvin Fowler

Sauerkraut and sausage with a large honey beer—this is how so many of our Thursday nights at the pub begin. This is where my friendship with Andrew is based: under summer’s umbrellas in front of a lazy river or hunkered down in old-town basement cafés, hiding from the snow.

Thursday after Thursday, I have had the privilege of watching this unique and very well-written book morph into what it is today.

Me, My World, and I is exactly that: Andrew, his world, and him. It is a very moody, reflective, and seasonal collection of poems accompanied by explanations and photos. It is a book to be savoured when picking it up, reading it, putting it down, and pondering it. It is full of bite-sized chunks that gently challenge your world view.

Andrew casually treads through life’s experiences, articulating them with both a poetic and contemplative heart. He has a lovely ability to tackle some of life’s deeper subjects, such as ageing and grieving, and intertwine them with the weather. His style resonates with the reader without taking him or her to an undesirable place.

The poetry is beautifully written and very easy to read. It is, perhaps, best read out loud. It has the subtle ability to take you away to quiet places, leaving you free to glean from it what you will.

If there is something that you do not quite understand in the text, perhaps you will find your answers in the accompanying photo. Andrew also writes a somewhat metaphysical explanation for each poem. These explanations delightfully dance around his work, bringing both clarification and more questions. Often they surprise, amuse, and send you back to read the poem again.

What have I learnt from this book? When Andrew aimlessly stares out his kitchen window, it is best that I leave him alone and wait for the poem.

Introduction

Crashing along life’s roller coaster—through the turmoil of heartache and the serenity of life’s great pleasures—can leave little time to take stock of just how wonderfully dramatic our world can be. We are so busy reacting to the moment, we barely notice the wonders that surround us. And we are missing so much.

This is a book about life—not through the eyes of a superstar or viewed from some mansion in Beverly Hills, but as lived by an average guy from down your street.

This is not some handpicked account of conveniently manufactured experiences, created specifically to titillate the reader. Rather, it’s an honest account of the ups and downs experienced in an average year of most people’s lives.

I invite you to follow me on a journey of discovery in which the characters are real people, and their experiences are not some subplot from a badly written script. Here you will find an inquisitive mind, genuine emotion, and an awakening to the fact that we can be something more.

As a collection of poetry, this is a work of self-expression (not an attempt to join the dusty ranks of academia). But then, this is so much more than a poetry book. Here, with soul bared, you will find a personal diary, a scrapbook of memories, and a soapbox for debate. This is a biography on life in which the featured verse is an important part of the journey, but not the complete story.

Poetry is extremely misunderstood. For most, at even the mere whisper of a poem, their minds are off choosing the wallpaper for the bedroom or planning the next dinner party. Mostly, poetry is confined to the idea of a world of dusty professors wading amid piles of books in the libraries of great academic institutions, such as Cambridge or Oxford. Poets, meanwhile, are generally imagined to be romantic idealists who live tragic lives in poverty, their genius only realised after death.

Not true! We may not rush out and buy poetry books or immerse ourselves nightly in the classics, but much of what we hear, see, and do is (by definition) quite poetic. Indeed, in this time of modern media—with every home boasting a television, computers, and the Internet, we are exposed to poetic material on a daily basis… we just never stop to think about it.

Poetry can pop up in the most unexpected of places. For example, who said, The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity? Was it Keats? Kipling? Perhaps Hardy? Actually, these lines were not uttered by any classical poet (or for that matter, by anybody who would be considered a poet in the traditional sense at all). Believe it or not, this line was borrowed from the 1960s TV science-fiction drama, Star Trek.

Although these words are a reference to the creation of life, I feel they are also highly relevant to the creation of art. The truth is, we all have different tastes, and we all choose to express ourselves in different ways. Poetry, for example, is extremely diverse. And thank goodness it is! That way, there is something for us all.

Poetry can often be found to play a part in popular culture. The West End musical Cats, for example, is an adaptation of the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. The song Macavity: The Mystery Cat is actually a poem. Poetry is everywhere. The title of the TV series The Darling Buds of May is in fact a line taken from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, a poem that was actually performed as a song by Bryan Ferry.

Indeed, many songs are extremely poetic. Some songs even begin life as poems. Others feature poetry, such as Michael Jacksons Thriller, which closes with Vincent Price reciting a very grizzly verse.

Sometimes poetic lines can become an important part of our history. When Neil Armstrong spoke the words, One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, he was marking a landmark event in a truly poetic fashion. Such words were appropriate given the fact that he was the first man to step onto the surface of the moon.

Words are immortal. They can deliver your message, tell your story, or simply inspire a smile long after we have gone.

Poetic verse can be cool—it doesn’t have to be confined to academics; it can be a great way to express your feelings, get a message across, or get yourself noticed.

Let’s not forget nursery rhymes, which are passed down from generation to generation. This most enduring genre of poetry is perhaps the most well-known. Most of us can recall at least a few lines. After all, what child doesn’t grow up reciting one memorable verse or another? We take these words into adulthood, often as an endearing reminder of our youth.

Poetry is extremely flexible. You can be creative without having to follow specific rules, or you can bravely tackle the science-like precision required to create Shakespearean sonnets (with their fourteen lines of ten syllables divided neatly into pairs). Perhaps you would prefer to write compact and highly rhythmic limericks. Or maybe you fancy setting a riddle.

Modern or classical, romantic or otherwise, there is more than enough room for expression. And for every poet, there is a different driving force, a unique passion that brings forth verse.

I have tried to portray a true-to-life reflection of a changing world that has been plunged deeply into recession and grapples with relaxed borders and migration that is changing the political geography of entire nations—maybe forever. Rain or shine, laugh or cry, my feelings, dreams, and opinions are here for all to see as I fight to find my unique place in the universe. You may not agree with all that I have written, but my words should at least spark debate in the face of otherwise passive acceptance of the state in which we currently find our planet.

Some might say that this is a depiction of life through rose-tinted glasses, topped off with a heady dose of nostalgia. Others might say it’s an overly critical and pessimistic view of where we are heading. What do you say?

Me

I am me.

I have meaning!

I am breathing,

My heart beating.

With eyes seeing,

With touch feeling.

Sometimes hurting,

In time healing.

Now I’m laughing,

Moments stealing.

Words I’m hearing,

Then I’m speaking.

Always