Still Searching for Oz: Words About Life . . . Words About Death . . . and Words That Seem Right When There’S Nothing Else Left

By John A. Murray

So...what is this book about? At its core, its a poetry and art book. But, in retrospect, its so much more. Growing up in the 80s I was influenced by two thingsart and music. Combine those two things with a personel reflection on the times and what was going on in the world (when I wrote each piece) and you will get a hint of what you will find within the pages of this book. The writing of this book brought me from a high school student, to a college student, to a Soldier in Desert Storm, to 9/11 to deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere in between. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I learned a lot about myself during this entire process and happened to relive some good and bad times in my life. If nothing else comes of thisthats enough. Intriguing huh?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503594081

John A. Murray

John A. Murray is the author or editor of forty books, including Cinema Southwest, which received the Southwest Book Award, and Mythmakers of the West, recipient of the Colorado Book Award. He lives in Denver.

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Copyright © 2015 by John A. Murray.

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 Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Edited by: Mr. Dan Sherman

Rev. date: 08/14/2015

This book is a combination of poetry, song lyrics, art and personnel reflection.

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Table of Contents

ACT I:   LIFE

The Coffee Cup Club

The Face (Looking Back at Me)

Madness

Here in the Real World

The Nights in L.A.

Love Is…

(For This Life) I Would Swallow My Pride

My Life

The Eternal Rain Does Fall

A Plea

ACT II:   DEATH

Full Circle

Here I Stand

The Old Man and the Robin

The Winds of Valhalla

Blood on the Bones

The Prophecy

Is this the end?

Beware the Road Less Traveled

My Sleep Time Prayer

The Blind Man’s Tale

ACT III:   RIGHT

Coming Home

The Sands of the Ages

Two of Many

The Hunger

Somewhere in the Middle

So the Story Goes

Down-Down Under

The Wheels Keep Turning

The Balance of Power

(Somewhere) Around Here

ACT IV:   LEFT

To The Top

Tonight

Around the Round Table

Conspiracy Theory

My Piece of Paradise

I and You and We

We Are The Ones

Roll the Bones

The Red, Red Rose

Devil Inside

This book is dedicated to the

Poets, the Songwriters

and the Storytellers.

I FOUND IT very difficult choosing the right words to begin this book. I wonder if other authors have the same problem. I am sure that some do. The good authors make it seem like it’s effortless…don’t they? When I was in elementary school in Dallas (Charles A. Gill Elementary), the author Wilson Rawls ( Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys ) came to my school to talk to the kids about writing. I still remember something he said (even though I was only six or seven years old). He said The words are already on the piece of paper, you just have to make sure that everyone else can see them easier than you did. Very profound insight into being an author I think. Not that I consider myself an author at this point. I am sure that some people believe the simple act of putting words to paper makes you an author. I believe that until someone actually pays for the privilege to read your thoughts, your words or your innermost secrets, you are no more an author than a student writing something for a class project. If you paid for this book, you now have the honor of making your own assumption about my writing talent, or lack thereof. In any case, I thank you, because by my definition above…I can now officially consider myself an author.

So what is this book about…at its core, it’s a poetry and art book. In retrospect, it’s so much more. Growing up in the 80’s I was influenced by two things…art and music. I took every art class I could in high school (That Cougar Spirit really sticks, we’re the class of ’86) and for some reason; I found that I was good at it. Later in life, while I was in the Army, I discovered tattoos and started designing some for friends who liked my designs. Among the various poems and song lyrics in this book you will see remnants of designs that I drew some years ago and many just last week. For some reason, I would (or could) not let anyone get these adorned to their body for all eternity (or at least until their skin decayed from their bones). Feel free to ink yourself with them now if you want (if you are over the age of 18 or have your parent’s consent).

When I was a young high school student the 80’s hair bands were king. Since I could not play the guitar, or the drums, or the bass or the piano or any other musical instrument ever invented or even thought of being invented, I decided that maybe I could write songs. I think that some of my songs really could have been performed by Motley Crue, Bon Jovi or Def Leppard (or any of the 100’s of really cool bands that I loved and gave myself tinnitus for while growing up). Most of these songs stayed in a folder for over twenty years until I had the idea to rewrite them into poetic form and write a book explaining what I was thinking when I wrote them (this is where the story gets interesting). This experiment would bring me from a high school student, to a college student, to Desert Storm, to 9/11 to OIF and everywhere in between. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I learned a lot about myself during this entire process. If nothing else comes of this…that’s enough.

I named this book Still Searching for Oz because Oz is that place in our imagination that represents beauty, power, magic and happiness. I think that in all our lives we are searching for something, just like Dorothy was searching for Oz to get home to Kansas. During my life thus far, I think that I have been searching for my reason for being, that reason I am here. I have often wondered what my calling is and what my legacy will be after I am gone and for how long will my legacy be known. When will I be forgotten? For most people with children, I think that they would say that their legacy IS their children. I believe that is a great answer, and I certainly buy into that answer. I, however, can’t use it because I have not been blessed with children. I am not sure if that is because the higher power above knows something that I don’t know, or if I just have bad luck. Whatever the case, I have been trying to figure out the reason for my existence. In these poems and these songs, you can read my story. Who knows, maybe you will discover something that you have been searching for. For myself…I am still searching for my proverbial Oz. Please join me as we search together.

Well, this is the end of the introduction…do you want to continue reading or do you want to put this back on the shelf where you found it? I hope you chose to turn the page…if you don’t, thanks for reading this far and good luck finding that which you are looking for.

ACT I

LIFE

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

-    Howard Thurman

I THOUGHT LONG and hard about the order in which to put these poems. Do I put them in chronological order? Do I put them in the order in which I like them? Does the publisher get