Life, Death, & the Faces and Places Between

By Donald Alan Straub III

Life, Death, & the Faces and Places Between is a collection of 57 poems created over six years, between 1997 and 2003, expressed from the perspective of a man in his mid to late twenties. The poems examine life and death through various poetic styles and viewpoints, probing into territories, both familiar and uncommon. The book tackles a variety of subjects: From hate crimes to love ballads, from surviving cancer to surviving 9-11, from nature to the nature of man: all set against the backdrop of what it is to live in these unpredictable times. It´s a reflection of the world and encourages the reader to look beyond the surface for greater meaning. The poems were inspired by first hand experiences, observations of others, and thoughts that seemed to spill out upon the page. It is a fascinating and vulnerable exploration told through poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 13, 2004
• ISBN: 9781465331311

Donald Alan Straub III

Donald Alan Straub III, born in Lakewood, California, was raised in Long Beach, California. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Film/Radio/Television from CSU Long Beach. While attending film school and since graduation, he has directed, produced, written, and edited a number of films. Don has pursued other various interests in recent years. Currently working in Commercial Real Estate. Now he’s chosen to broaden his scope and attempt a trilogy of books titled the Lake Parking Trilogy. This is the third book in the trilogy and his fourth book published. Don married his beautiful wife Karrie in 2011 and considers himself blessed to have an immensely smart stepson in Ryan.  Francisca Shannon Bouchée-Flores was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Redmond, where she lived through her first year at the University of Washington. After meeting her now husband on a road trip to San Diego, California, Francisca transferred and graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Arts in Film/Radio/Television from CSU Long Beach in 1996. Francisca has continued to capture life's smiles and memories through her work in the school picture industry since 1998. She enjoys spending time with her husband Matthew and their three children—Mahlia, Liahna, and Maverick—in their hometown of Huntington Beach, California.  

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Copyright © 2004 by Donald Alan Straub III.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/28/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

556060

I dedicate this book

to all those who have inspired me

and

to those who have chosen to express themselves

creatively

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Amy Elizabeth Forman

Foreword by Francisca Shannon Bouchée–Flores

HATHAWAY

HAPPILY LOST IN NAPERVILLE

ENDURE

LIFE WITH A SMILE

THE GREAT SADNESS

SEPARATE REALITY CIRCUMFERENCE I

EVANESCENCE

ALICAT

MEAN PEOPLE SUCK

FRIENDS

ANGEL

IN THE SHADOWS

SOLITAIRE

LITTLE TON

a cHRONICLE oF hEROES

DO I HAVE TO STRADDLE SOMETHING?

SOSA, McGWIRE

IT HAPPENS FOR A REASON

THE MILLENNIUM LAVISH

THE NOTORIOUS PLEASURE RESORT

HEADING REDDING

THE YELLOW JERSEY

ULTRASOUND

APPLES & ORIGINS

MENTAL FIREWORKS

HEIGHTENED (a stream of consciousness)

SUBTLE POWER

SERENE

FROM A TO ZERO

THE LYNCHINGS OF AMERICA

SEPARATE REALITY CIRCUMFERENCE II

RACE TO FREE MAN

DON’T PUNT ON FIRST DOWN

ODE TO THE DRIVE-THRU

RUN-ON

THE ELSE MATTERS

THE GHOSTS OF NEW YORK

POOL YOURSELF TOGETHER

WHERE SHEPHERDS DARE TREAD

PIANISSIMO AL FORTISSIMO

SIX FEET ABOVE

MY LOVETH IRELAND

STEPPINGSTONES

NA PALI

...JUST WANT ANOTHER CHANCE TO LIVE

THE PRICE OF FEAR

A FRACTIONAL SONNET WITH ALASKAN INTENT

DANCE WITH THE BUTTERFLIES

SEPARATE REALITY CIRCUMFERENCE III

FOSTERING GEEL

CANDID

YOU CAN’T TELL ME HOW TO LOVE

SENSE OF PURPOSE

La Mujer en el Vestido de Flores

O

DAVE & MARIA

FIGURE 8

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

These poems encompass six plus years of dramatic change within my life and the world around me. I was twenty-four when I began what has now become Life, Death, & the Faces and Places Between. These poems are a slice of life, and death, all inspired by events between my mid and late twenties. A time when invincibility began to fade, having realized the fragility of life, learning to deal with new perspectives.

I became interested in poetry at the age of eleven while in Sixth Grade. Some of the poems I had written during this time were selected and read on the radio. The following, entitled IMAGINATIONS, is the first poem I remember writing:

IMAGINATIONS

Imaginations

Here and now

Party time for

A chocolate cow

Giant bugs

Purple Trees

Funny people

Electric leaves

Karate hands

Chop-man-foo

One-legged animal

In the freaky zoo

Tropical soup

With yoga-ma-zees

Hamburger cars

And swimming bees

Imaginations

Blow my mind

They are not

Hard to find

I was inspired to keep writing poems until I was about fourteen years old, and then for some reason stopped...

I hadn’t written any poetry for close to ten years until 1997, when I wrote HATHAWAY, a poem about a close friend who had made a significant impact on my life. Unknown to me at the time, the years to follow were even more significant, for the impact this friend made became exponentially greater. 1997 was significant in many ways, becoming a starting point for this book. In that year, I was faced with the reality of death for the first time in my adult life. Two of my closest friends had significant loved ones die. One lost their mother to cancer; a woman who was like a secondary mother to me. The other lost a close friend to a heart attack; a man who played a father figure role in my friend’s life. I hadn’t known anyone especially close to me die since my grandfather died when I was ten years old. Also in 1997, I began to have some migraine headaches, so intense and persistent, I wasn’t sure if they were ever going to end. To try and clear my head, I made a trip to visit my close friend in Chicago, the person who inspired HATHAWAY. I was at the point of going through