Life Expressed in 25 Words or Less: Distilled Wisdom for Life

By Jack Cantwell

Hi. Welcome to my world of word pictures. They represent selected random thoughts that span a period of almost twenty-five years, from my time in Japan to present day. The next version will include moments from before that time as well. Heres a reading tip for maximum enjoyment: 1. Read the prologue for background. 2. Read the first aha moment. 3. Pause. 4. Read the next one. 5. Pause. 6. Keep repeating the process. This book has been published in a limited printing run for sharing with friends, family, and business colleagues. I hope you get the picture as you read. Some are written for humor. Some are simple observations of life. Others are either events that triggered expressions of faith or simply thoughts that popped up in my head. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read. I would appreciate feedback too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514484517

Jack Cantwell

My name is Jack Cantwell. By day, I do paid marketing for clients and pro bono marketing work for select charities and my church St. Mary’s, Lebanon, Pennsylvania. By night, I work at becoming a published author, when I’m not teaching a marketing or sales class for Elizabethtown College. I had this idea when my wife, Pat, and I lived in Japan from 1987 to 1991. If I observe things and think thoughts, can they be expressed in random word pictures? That’s the concept of haiku, isn’t it? Can each thought be expressed in twenty-five words or less? Pure haiku is 17 syllables (too difficult for me), so I created my own rule of 25 words or less. I tried it out. Each first attempt uses more than 25 words. The editing is part of the challenge and the fun. The next step was easy to decide. Like a good marketing guy, I wrote a sample book, had 150 copies printed, and gave them away to friends, relatives, business colleagues, and people who heard about it and asked for a copy. In return, I asked for feedback. The results were highly encouraging, which motivated me to take this project to the next level. This is what you’re reading now. The original work is still included, plus this introduction is longer. There are well over 60 new word pictures, and in response to requests, I wrote a new section of backstories. Thank you in advance for climbing aboard. Some of my sample readers called this poetry for the nonpoetry reader; others observed that they were reading my autobiography in small bites. Remarks like that are woven into the motivation to keep going with the book. God has blessed me with a good life, and I’m pleased to open the door and invite you to be part of it through this medium, the haiku-inspired word pictures. The life connection has also inspired the title of the book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Jack Cantwell.

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.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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.

Rev. date: 04/25/2016

Xlibris

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Contents

Foreword

Introduction

A message from Jack Cantwell

Part 1   The Japan and Southeast Asia Years

Part 2   Other Places Other Years Humor, Faith, and Other Thoughts

Part 3   The Backstories

Highway Miracle

Madame Tatsumi’s Famous Fried Rice

Deployed Soldier

The Face of the Devil

Growing Up in Brooklyn

The Significance of the Water Buffalo

The Adult Me Emerges

Two Bizarre

Princess, a.k.a. Mad Animal

First Grandchild

Broken Car Door

What’s in your DNA?

Parting Remarks

To my wife of over 55 years

and counting,

Patricia;

our three

children,

Kevin, Lisa, and Monica,

and our seven grandchildren

(oldest to youngest)

Kyle, Jack, Meagan, Aidan, Molly, Theo, and Elana

God is good.

37201.png

Love

Foreword

Throughout life, particularly as one gets older, one begins to reflect—on life, relationships, random events, and the meaning of it all.

Jack Cantwell has in 25 words or less, with each one of his haiku’s, provided ample opportunity for the reader to reminisce about wonderful events in your own life. The thoughts expressed in so few words have such profound meaning and impact that hours, perhaps days, perhaps weeks later you will experience something in your own life that gives you an A Ha reflection on the wisdom of Jack’s words.

The stories behind the haiku give you a warm insight into the man who authored this ingenious life’s reflection. The stories give you a frame of reference that propels you into the middle of the haiku and into Jack’s life. The haiku then becomes part of you because you have become part of Haiku and Jack’s own experiences.

As you read each reflection you will think back on moments in your own life when you have experienced similar life’s events.

Most of the haiku’s inspired me but one in particular impacted me greatly because of my own life’s experiences which Jack allowed me to contemplate, internalize, and remember with fondness.

"Shapeless

Yet it shapes our lives.

A gift from God.

Compassion.

shape-

less

dream

She dreamt she was awake.

So was it really a dream?"

The haiku reminded me of the compassion that was shown to me when I was trying to complete a walk across America for children with disabilities. I was exhausted. I had

Reviews for Life Expressed in 25 Words or Less

[pardamustang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

**This book was reviewed for Online Book Club**In Life Expressed, Jack Cantwell has created a series of poems designed to make the reader pause and think. The style is vaguely reminiscent of more structured diamante poems to me, with most of the poems being in pairs that are connected together by a set of words in the middle. Sometimes the poems were unrelated, but often each was connected to the other. I found the poems to be very intriguing, and enjoyed the mental pictures they inscribed upon the canvas of my mind's eye. I particularly enjoyed the Japanese waitress/sparrows poem. I've had the greeting experience more than once when walking into a Japanese sushi place. The second half was just beautiful. It reminded me of a found natural treasure, recalling to mind one of my own- the slightly surreal experience of seeing a saltine walking it's crooked way down a sidewalk. Careful examination revealed ants! Walking a whole cracker along!I had to laugh at the wasabi poem. We had a family member do the same thing before we could warn. Why they thought it was guacamole is something I have yet to figure out. The pelican/seagull poem is another I can relate to, living along the coast of Northern California as I do. Both are familiar sights. I love discovering flights of pelicans. They can be rather graceful airborne.Pet poems were another favourite, though the one about the cockapoo's passing had me teared up. Today, Oct 8, is the second anniversary of the passing of my beloved kit-kat, Drizzit. At the age of 13, he passed away from a potassium imbalance. I still miss him so, as I do my grandmother, which another poem reminded me of. Last, but hardly least, among those that stood out were the 'where were you' poems. Some of the poet's included Kennedy's assassination, and the Boston marathon bombing.. For me, it would be Challenger’s destruction, Hurricane Hugo, Mt St Helens, the World Trade Centre.Poetry is for capturing the essences of things, distilling them in shimmering memory jewels. Cantwell has done a marvelous job at doing just that. I immensely enjoyed reading his poetic offerings. I also appreciated the explainer to some of them in the back of the book.?????Highly recommended for those who love poetry.