Odds & Ends: 50 Poems That Mean Absolutely Nothing

By F.L. Riker

Writing is easy, just close your mouth and open your mind
The words will come and you may be surprised.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665547451

F.L. Riker

F. L. Riker was just like many of the men who went to serve his country during the Vietnam War. He knew he was doing the right thing to help protect the nation that he loved. But, like many others at his young age, he was not prepared for what he would encounter there. One day he was a civilian, enjoying life in the U.S., and the next day, he was a soldier in a war thousands of miles from home. When it was all over, Frank returned to an unfriendly country, the United States, where, after many tormented years he was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.), a mental and emotional ailment that makes him feel he is all alone and has no one to rely on for understanding and support. The circumstances of the war continue to play inside his mind. To help cleanse these feelings, he just completed writing his first book “Images From Hell” in verse, in which he tells his personal story, words from the darkest corners of his mind, from start to finish, so that readers can understand what he and thousands of other soldiers have gone through. He is now starting to write his autobiography about his tormenting years of living with P.T.S.D. Frank’s touching verses shed light on his wartime experiences. His poems include Alone, The Effect of War, One Fight, Isolation, Savage Country, The Fear Inside and many more. Readers are able to follow his journey from the depths of despair to finding love, though the horrors and nightmares still emerge from time to time. Veterans are able to understand not only Frank’s feelings, but their own, in a fresh new light, and can now have the courage to face their demons as well.

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2021 F.L. Riker. 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.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/12/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4746-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-4745-1 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

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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.

THE GAME

Isolation is the absence of insanity

Insanity is the cure for isolation

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It was

another day I wasn’t there, yet again, no way

They say I was, I thought I was, but no, it was another day

Here I am again, just another day another time and as usual, another day, my watch says Monday

I thought I did this already, oh well, just another day

I keep going around, it’s happening again, just another day

Why won’t they let me stop, I can’t get off the time wheel just another day.

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Looking for a place to die

The faster I go the behinder I get

I pause and I try to stand in place

It won’t let me die but I can’t understand why.

The reasons are plenty and hard on my mind

Looking for the beauty for a weathered mind

My mind is in turmoil, no place to go

I’m stuck in