With a Certain Wide-Eyed Look

By Doug Hodges

This will be my third collection of poems. However, poetry flows throughout all my volumes. To me, poetry is a way of communication and it is diverse, overlapping prose, overlapping music ... sad to publishers and those who would put creativity in a niche, I feel life as a great woven tapestry of creation ... from a distance, maybe distinctions may be made; up close, all is a part of one, flowing this way and that ... here a gentle stream, here a rushing river, here a great sea which, itself, may be calm or tempest-tossed. Yet, water is water.
With A Certain Wide-Eyed Look is largely composed of newer poems, caught up in the mind and events of the day, with some quick flash-backs to times and writings gone by. For I, still, am no less a product of my past even as I am recreated with each new day. People and images abide, herein, which have touched my life. Readers, who know me, possibly will know these, as well; readers, to whom my writings are new, will possibly recognize these folk as well, even if by different names. For as new as are all ideas, images, personalities, there is a familiarity among the body of man and along the plain of existence and time, which is a common thread woven deep throughout us all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491834084

Doug Hodges

I have been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil, with my first poem written in the fifth grade. This led to a career in Colorado newspapers, which lasted more than twenty years, though in a variety of capacities. I once wrote an historical column, titled The Trail’s End. This tied my love of words in with my love of history, a deep-seated yearning flowing throughout my life. A need to blend the humanity and emotion of raw life with the cold stone of fact, the idealism of win and loss with the blood and bone reality of violence being a lose-lose proposition, trying to find that spiritual truth among the physical fact. In 2014, a good friend invited me to share a trip to Gettysburg, which reawakened a long-dormant civil war seed. From this journey came our collaborated book, Bob’s Gettysburg Saga & Poetry. Upon its successful publication, we decided that Bob should visit other historical sites and chose the Alamo for his next venture. Unfortunately, my friend was not able to participate in this endeavor. So I continued, trusting that the spirit of Bob’s creator would find its way between the lines. Following Bob’s section are a couple of obituaries I penned some time ago. Completing the volume are a couple of Western tales. I hope the reader may enjoy this collection of historical reminiscence as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now, on the backside of sixty, I reside in the Rio Grande Valley with my wife, who is also my personal editorial department (all errors are still mine, she will be quick to note), three dogs, and a parrot. My wife taught high school English and communication (speech) for over thirty years. When not writing or visiting family, we like to sit around and discuss words and language.

Book preview

With A Certain

Wide-Eyed Look

2.jpg

Doug Hodges

For SoloSpeak,

my shining star of Texas,

who led me home

43117.png

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2013 Doug Hodges. 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.

Unless otherwise noted, all works, herein, are the author’s. Any ‘worked’ images were accomplished with Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/15/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3407-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-3408-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013920710

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

Prologue

Image: Shrimp Boat, Captain Chieto - Port of Brownsville, 2003

Morning - 11/5/99

El Rio Bravo - 11/3/99

Por mi amor - 12/13/99

I- 1/11/00

You- 10/7/00

Words- 11/14/00

Vida Bravo- 5/14/01

Image: Tiny Flame

The Face Poems

How ‘fantastique’ - 6/75

To think is to fly - 6/75

And we say - 7/21/81

I have flown with hawks - 7/21/81

Clouds - 2/17/95

Face upon the - 2/17/95

Mr. Grump says: - 2/17/95

Mr. Moon - 2/17/95

A travesty lightly taken - the millennium

A Day at the Newspaper - Spring 1990

From Songs of Colorado:

Ramblings on Denver - 1995

Boulder - 1995

Illustration: The Crystal Club - Crystal City, 1980’s

Colorado Ghosts - 1984

Revisiting 1999:

Denver Homage - 5/13/99

I followed a Spanish Star to the Texas coast… - 5/13/99

Re: Sylvia Beach Hotel - 5/21/99

The Tap-dancer - 7/4/76

I do like candles - Rollinsville, 1990

Rock of Ages - The Great American Southwest

Ripples in a coffee cup… - 5/13/13

To Brenda - RIP - 1/20/12

Marcy Reed - 2/27/12

In Silence - 4/11/12

Retired Life - 6/5/12

A Prayer this Sunday for old Colorado - 7/22/12

Doppelgänger - September 2012

Image: Long-horn Armadillo - Houston, 2012

A Dream of Name - 9/14/12

Jennie, Bernie, mothers and sons… - 9/28/12

Soliloquy on Freedom - 10/11/12

Possessions - 10/27/12

The Chill - 10/5/12

Schemes - 11/13/12

The Children of Sandy Hook - 12/14/12

Solstice - 2012

Epiphany - 1/18/13

A-pondering - 1/29/13

A Line or Two for Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day - 2/13-14/13

Writing - 2/26/13

Growing Up… - 3/12/13

Thelma Mitchell - 3/18/13

Interlude - 2013

Trusty Warriors - with D. Everett Newell, 4/17/13

Wednesday Morning

They are new every morning - 4/29/13

Three In The Morning

Happy - 12/21/12

Morning song - 1/24/13

High country morning - 2/30/13

Image: Soldiers

New Day - Gettysburg, Summer 2013

Jenny - Gettysburg, 2013

Sunday - 6/2/13

Don’t go near the book - You might want to go in - 6/18/13

Enjoying moments - 7/11/13

Promise Shining - 8/12/13

Journaling -