Living on the Edge: 50 Years of Poetry

By Ken Paffrath

We all are Living On The Edge. Sometimes we fall off the edge, sometimes we decide to change edges. Regardless life on the edge can be exciting and fraught with many perils. Many times we stop Living On The Edge to contemplate where we have been and what lies ahead. Ken Paffraths life has experienced many ups and downs and is reflected in his poetry. Poetry which is introspective, suicidal, humourous, spiritual, environmental, thought provoking, or nonsensical. It is a chronicle of life in poetry, dreams, heartbreaks, ups and downs. In reading Living On The Edge it is hoped that you may identify in some small way with the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452595054

Ken Paffrath

Ken Paffrath has been published in 14 anthologies, various papers and won numerous awards including the 1989 Poet of Merit from the National Library of Poetry.He has traveled to many places and experienced the dualities of life such as happiness and heartbreak, life and death, war and peace, etc. He retired from the Air Force and Dept. of Defense. He is a disabled veteran with multiple sclerosis. He is married and lives in Riverside, California with his wife and Coca, a chocolate Labrador. They have two sons and three grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2014 Ken Paffrath.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-9504-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-9506-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-9505-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905719

Balboa Press rev. date: 4/22/2014

Contents

Preface

Brotherly Love

Regeneration

The Journey

Life’s Purpose

Truth

On Being An Example

Alone

Bound

The End

Min Docga*

The Fountain

Freedom

A Couplet

Life I

Life II

On Indifferences

A Song

On Flying

Ramblings of the Mind

The Prisoner

The Holocaust

Peace

Untitled

Ode to a Lover

God’s Light

A Perspective on Life

The Trip

Ahead to the Future

Mind Trip

The Stream I

Untitled

Body and Soul

On Knowing God

Untitled

Untitled

A Message of Peace

Spirit’s Journey

Untitled

The Flame

The Reality of Spirit

Untitled

Untitled

Ode to Evergreen, Colorado

Lady of the Past

The Stream II

Progress

God’s Love I

To an Angel

The Glory of God

It’s Amazing

On Knowing Yourself

To a Shower

The Clock

To Colorado

God Within

Free

Untitled

Untitled

A New Day

In Transit

The Birds

The Search

Love

What Difference

Life Is Like a Cigarette

The Leper

Love: A Response

Death

The Rainbow

God’s Love – II

The Wind

The Invisible Ones

A Game of Love

To Scott

War

Free Spirit

The Unknown Angel

Another Day

Untitled

Reaching Upward

Beyond

To a Dream

Where Have the Words All Gone

No More

Change

A Welcome Embrace

Journey into Chaos

A Thing of the Past

Soul Mates

Spheres of Light

Lady of the Night

In Retrospect at Twenty-Eight Thousand Feet

Diamonds from Above

Words

My Heart’s Longing

For You

All That I Am Is Yours

The Flowing Wall

The Source

Memories

A Study in Suicide

Paradise

The Ocean Shore

A Time to Mourn

The Rising of the Sun

A Broken Heart

A Time to Be Born

The Sea’s Embrace

Clear Vision

Because of You

My Choice

You Are There

A Time to Plant

A Time to Die

Christ Descended

Christ My Strength

A Prayer to Dedicate the New Day

God’s Love Leads

Untitled

A Time to Weep

T’was the Week after Christmas

A Study in Suicide

A New Beginning

The Encounter or The Gal versus the Dude

Thoughts for a Monday Morning

A Time to Love

Another Healing or Into the Spiral Again

Riding the Wind

Dying Species

You’ll Not See Me Cry

Who Am I?

My Hiding Place

A Plea

Fear of Loving

To a Lover

Forever in My Life

Misery

The Dawning

The Mother Goddess

Simple Simon

Alone

Friends

Ode to Slot Machines

The Mice and the Clock

The Mad Hatter and the Red Queen

Yorick

The Weeping Woman

Harbingers of Death

The Haunting

My Heart’s Desire

The Soldier

Living on the Edge is dedicated to all my friends, fellow authors, and family, who encouraged me to assemble all my poetry into a book. It is also dedicated to all the kindred spirits who find themselves relating in some small way to my poems. Lastly I must mention my wife, Patty Ann, who showed great forbearance in these final stages of assembly.

Preface

I chose the title Living on the Edge because I felt that it describes my life in a nutshell. The poetry within is in many ways a chronicle of my life experiences. Every time I wrote a poem I dated it so if I went back at a later date, I could recall the circumstances in which it was written. Many of the poems have a story behind them; some of them are flashbacks to different times.

I started writing poetry in 1963, about the time of Kennedy’s assassination. I was in college and questioned my existence. My writing often came in spurts, as I would hold things in until I felt like I was going to explode. I often would push my limits to see how far I could go. In 1966 I joined the United States Air Force where I spent the next twenty years. This provided me with material that enabled me to write more. It opened my eyes to the world, starting with Buddhist priests in a monastery in Thailand and four years in Southeast Asia to Spain and England. I also managed to see much of America. I learned to open my mind to other lifestyles and to the misery of the poor ravaged