A War of Love: 2Nd Edition

By William Elliott

A War Of Love - 2nd Edition, builds on the work of “A War Of Love – Poems by William T. Elliott”. It has 302 pages compared to the first edition's 128 pages. The book is a book of poems expressing the reflections on love and life of a Vietnam Era Veteran after the Vietnam War. The poems are easy to read and fall into three categories, pretty poems, humorous poems and spiritual poems. Below is a review of the first 6 sections of the book by the National Review of Books. I hope this will give you some idea of what the book is like.

reviewed by Mihir Shah

"Some say you need a gun to fight
but no you really don’t
Instead you need your God above
with Him there is your might."

In A War of Love, William T. Elliott seeks a therapeutic reprieve from nagging panic attacks, but instead ends up capturing the essence of the human spirit through a series of timeless, evergreen poems revolving around prayer, philosophy, nature, and animals. With no clear structure or rhythm, A War of Love won’t be mistaken for an Edgar Allen Poe or Sylvia Path piece; however, the stream of conscious style that Elliott exudes in his work has a genuine, heartfelt aura that will likely resonate with individuals of all ages.

Although the poems are split into six sections, including the compilation’s namesake, Elliott’s observations on animals remain consistent throughout. Four consecutive poems, “THE BEAGLE,” “A CAT,” “THE CHICKADEE,” and “THE DEER,” grace the opening of the collection and establish a romanticization of everyday animals. What makes these poems sparkle is the elimination of age appeal. In “A CAT,” young or old can reminisce fondly on the memorable temperament of a cat that, “gives me not a nod at all,” unless it is feeding time. In “THE HAWK AND THE BLACKBIRD,” like in the poems above, there is unique energy in the author’s writing style and pace that matches the animals’ love of life that Elliott successfully portrays. Perhaps the most intriguing poem, appearing in “Additional Poems,” is “THE BUTTERFLY.” In a matter of five quatrains, the poet injects the reader with childhood nostalgia. The poem itself is emblematic of coming of age: Children are in their own cocoon, and when they become adults, they too, like a butterfly, fly away.

Elliott adds a distinctly personal touch to his words by including personal photographs, none more riveting than the picturesque landscapes of Angostura Reservoir and Coldbrook Dam in South Dakota. This ode to nature is in full form in “THE MISSOURI” and “THE SNOWFLAKE,” both poems that use mother nature and imagery of all five senses to reinvigorate the human spirit and help readers remember what it really means to be alive, be it hearing “the waves that wash upon the sand,” or “the feel of flakes past chilly ears.” While Elliott appears to be focused more on evoking a particular emotion from the reader rather than spectacular structure, his poem, “THE SNOWFLAKE,” exhibits an abundance of strong structure, repetition, and simile that allows the readers to conjure the image of snowflakes falling like “cotton tuffs” in the day and “dandruff’s spite” in the night.

As the poetry progresses, so does Elliott’s depth of observation. While the poems on animals and nature dwell on what is apparent to the eye, his thought-provoking philosophy poems touch on many of the world’s “elephant in the room” topics that most try to avoid. Poems like “Loneliness,” “Frustration,” and “Hope,” discuss the struggle man faces throughout life’s journey, while “Pipe Dreams” seeks to keep readers grounded and avoid the sometimes inevitable delusions of grandeur that find ways into one’s thoughts. “DEATH OF A THOUGHT,” however, stands on its own and represents the metaphysical element of time, inciting a debate of whether one should wait for the right moment to act or simply seize the moment.

Directly or indirectly, A War of Love seeks to infuse the reader with life and lov

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796013429

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by William Elliott.

Library of Congress Control Number:     2019911659

ISBN:               Softcover                             978-1-7960-1-343-6

                         Hardcover                            978-1-7960-5-221-3

                         eBook                                   978-1-7960-1-342-9

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: 01/31/2019

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CONTENTS

POEMS

A Beagle

A Cat

The Chickadee

The Deer

The Missouri

The Snowflake

The Delicate Kiss

How To Get Along With A Woman

The Peanut

An Ode To Hamburger

The Napkin

The Hawk and the Blackbird

THE PRETTY AND THE RASCALS

The Vision

A Bird

The Flower

The Kitty That Sat

The Little Rascal Whoop

The Death of A Thought

The Pen That Skipped

The Paper Clip

The O

Heartburn

The Chair

The Bobber

Sunset

The Meadowlark

Sleep

THE HUMOROUS AND THE MELANCHOLY

An Ode To Odeur

Chess

Loneliness

My Left Hand

Paper

Shorts

The Eagle

The Goldfinch

The Rain

The Trip

A WAR OF LOVE

Chocolates

Cleaning

Critics

Duke The Boy

Frustration

Grandma Nancy

Popcorn

The Drive

The Gap

The Refrigerator

War of The Spirit

PEACE

A Bug

Children

The City

Fame

Love

The Old Woman and the Cat

Peace

A Squirrel

The Fire

The Worker

REVERENCE

Bills

Country

Covet

Dishonor

Father

Hope

The Magpie

Pipe Dreams

Prayer

The Veteran

ADDENDUM

THE CHANGE OF SEASONS

Forward To Since Nancy

My Brother

The Butterfly

Cards

Confused

Ends

Fatigue

Fear

Hairs

Johnny

Lesson Learned

The Moth

Sadness

The Sister I Forgot

The Cat That Slept

The Change of Seasons

TOGETHER

Together

Clouds

Contrary

The Duchess and the Squirrel

The Enemy

My Friend

The Hug

Pantyhose

Status

Anger

Vietnam

War And Peace

POOR IN THE SPIRIT

Poor

The Blossom

Suicide

The Politician

Different

The Quiet Poet

Caffeine

Depression

Gotcha Last

True

The Cat Bath

The Almighty and the Angels

The Life of A Poet

Boredom

The Chimney and the Woodpecker

Ostracized

Right

Being Me

SINCE NANCY

My Nancy

Fred And Bubba

Birdy Wirdy

The Damselfly

Sorrow

My Family

The Gathering of The Poets

Celebrate

The Sky

Bombers

Gabriella

Loving The Ninevites

The Porch

The Kick Me Game

Christmas

The Footstep

Snowy Night

The Cat That Sneezed

The Little Old Lady and the Child

Old Baldy

The Chip That Stuck

Whitney

Barb’s Grand Daughter

The Saga of The Underwear

TO FORGIVE

John Q Public

The Sanctuary

The Bit Tongue

Cursed

The Fickle Fan

The Fallen

To Cry

To Forgive

The Birdy Chirp

The Bazooka

Life

Meth

The Demon

KITTY PAW

The Angels of Heaven

The Barking Dog On Evans Street

Beauty

The Conversation

Dion of The Belmonts

Freedom

Something Good

The Hailstorm

The Hand

Happy

The Kitty Paw

Purpose

Thursday

Vengeance

White

ADDITIONAL POEMS

In The Hands of God

Money

Suffering

Talking To Poets

I Dreamed of Chaos

The Show Off

image001.jpg

POEMS

by

William T. Elliott

A BEAGLE

Why to see is free,

a little puppy scamp and spree.

Legs a spraddled, nose a twitch,

a carefree little happy bitch.

Black and white and brown a blur,

nose and tail and hair a stir.

Wonder how much more can move,

a little one man one dog brood?

A CAT

A cat is hairy, lazed and quick,

and no respect you see;

for I, the master tall and proud,

or wife or house or tree,

He gives me not a nod at all.

He cares not where I stand.

And if I tickle, prod or play,

he bites me in the hand.

But there’s one time attention high,

I have it all for me.

It is the time when hunger strikes,

and kitchen I must flee.

THE CHICKADEE

Once there was a thicket,

by the water of the river.

And as I walked within the glade,

the brush began to quiver.

I said to friend, "Say look there hence,

there’s movement in the brush!"

And as we looked, burst forth with glee,

a black-capped bird of flitting free.

The little chirp and chin of white,

were for my friend and I a quiet.

And body gray and antics gay,

were what we sought to see.

T’was cheerful chickadee.

THE DEER

Eyes of brown and tail of white,

and leaping bounds with muscles tight;

and grazing meadows mid the wind,

that blows the grass like ocean’s kin.

Walking through the forest deep,

while feeding on the moss of green;

and rubbing antlers yet not weened,

and licking coat of velvet sheen.

The deer, so graceful, seldom seen.

THE MISSOURI

I love the river mid the plain,

and knolls above this shore of rain.

For in the water of the river,

life is full.

It seems to me the rain so free,

should gather nowhere, man to see;

and finding not a draw mid plain,

would travel to the sea in vain.

And then in thirst and hunger drawn,

the prairie no more would be long;

for short would be the life of man,

should waters full give way to sand.

Sometimes when I sit above,

this river flowing free I love;

I look above to blue sky filled,

with gulls and terns of many guilds.

And on the water mallards quack,

and close to shore the rushes blow,

and autumn brings the geese with snow,

and glinting ice is winter’s glow.

Standing on the pebbles on the shore

beside the river,

I hear the waves that wash upon the sand

and toes that shiver.

And as I look toward the sun to see the

rippled waves,

I see the glint of sun on each in sparkled

line of frays.

But in the best of times I close,

my eyes I used to see.

And smell the water in the air,

and listen to the wind so fair,

and feel my soul in gentle care.

THE SNOWFLAKE

The snowflakes are cool and pointed and gray;

but gathered together they’re white.

And they fall in the day like cotton tufts.

And they fall in the night like dandruff’s spite.

It seems sometimes they’re awfully hard,

on body and on will.

In traveling up hills and causing cold

caught ills;

but who does not like the first snow’s bite?

The feel of flakes past chilly ears;

and smell of silent wind,

that chills the chin,

as the snowflakes play.

It seems, out there in the snow,

hidden over white, and in some place where

the cold breeze blows;

is the director of all things,

playing mid the snowflakes as He sings.

THE DELICATE KISS

Oh, t’is lovely, graceful sweet,

as stands she warm and dear.

The one and only, truly true,

the dreamgirl longed by you.

Her hair in blond and gentle curves,

lies soft on shoulders bare;

as down her curls of gentle flowing,

runs your hand amid her glowing.

Clinging to you as a vine,

she gazes through her eyes of wine;

while red her lips and rouge of pink,

entice you toward her lips to sink.

"Oh my darling precious sweet,

your lips seem glistening warm.

May I but yet touch them once,

I beg of you no scorn."

"Yes my handsome knight of arms,

in truth my king and prince;

I give you grant to kiss caress,

my lips inviting, soft to test."

Bracing breathless closely slow,

he hovers over lips.

And slow she smiles before his kiss,

their love then joined in bliss.

"Say there! What upon your teeth,

is sitting there so green?

I pray you’d better get it off,

for think’s I it looks mean!"

"What do you mean my gentle sir;

my hero, knight, and man?

My teeth are pearly white I’m sure.

Their sweet true flavor waits for yours.

"T’is true I also lust your lips, and

seek your sweet embrace. But