Carrying Stones into the Colorful Unknown

By M. E. Kamrass

There is a weight to being alive. Everyone bears life’s stones: some stones are light, others heavy; some are significant, others miniscule. They are our upbringing, environment, memories, mental and physical health, decisions we have made, lessons we have learned, people we interact with, experiences we have had, and other factors—for better or worse or with no particular outcome at all. Carrying Stones into the Colorful Unknown presents one man’s exploration in verse of his stones and the life he has lived thus far through various tones and experiments in style and format. These poems consider the monotony, struggles, uncertainties, humors, and joys he has experienced and people he has interacted with in life, complemented by photographs from his own collection. This poetry collection seeks to serve as a companion to contemporary poetry lovers and to anyone who ponders the weight of being alive for all life is in our modern world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663240477

M. E. Kamrass

M. E. Kamrass was born, raised, and currently resides in Colorado. He has been a poet for eleven years, and this is his first poetry collection. Over those years, he has been influenced by many people, sources of writing, and experiences in how he writes and tries to experiment.

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Copyright © 2022 M.E. Kamrass.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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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.

All photographs used were taken by M.E. Kamrass

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4048-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4047-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022909960

iUniverse rev. date: 08/08/2022

To all who have taught me

and bore

the stones of life with me

CONTENTS

The Stones of Existence:

The Weight of What Is in Life

The Same Stones Seen:

The Monotony in Life for Better or Worse

The Jagged, Dark Stones in the Valley:

The Negative and Horror in Life, Real and Imaginary

The Uncanny, Alien Stones:

The Confusion, Doubt, and Uncertainty in Life

The Colorful, Odd Stones:

The Humorous and Satirical Side of Life

The Freedom and Flight with Stones:

The Positive in Life in Light of Its Weight

About the Collection

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THE STONES OF EXISTENCE:

The Weight of What Is in Life

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CARRYING STONES

Have you ever asked yourself,

Who am I? or Why do I live?

That’s the stones you carry.

Every choice you make,

everything that has happened to you—

a stone in the invisible sack on your back

you carry everywhere you go:

school, work, the grocery store, church,

you name it.

Birth to death,

stones created and collected: cobbles, pebbles, boulders;

some precious and of particular significance,

others forgettable or regrettable

but ever worthless, even in the moment?

(You decide.)

The weight of identity and meaning:

to live with who you are

and to continue to redefine

WHO YOU ARE,

like that one person

you think has it all together;

to ceaselessly ask

WHY

and to continue to KNOW WHY

you bear your stones

with billions of others.

BORN WITH QUESTIONS

I was born this way

but not without questions to ask one day.

Why was I born this way

and not some other way?

Why was I born in this time of history

with this particular identity?

May I wonder about other people too?

May I ask questions to all of you

if only to empathize and understand?

If only to learn about another human?

Billions upon billions came before us;

billions upon billions will come after us,

so may curiosity reign

and receive no blame.

May a human in the mystery of existence

ask questions with futile persistence.

THE LORD(S) OF CREATION

A human,

born nothing

but the creator of something:

Meaning and Purpose.

A human,

the lord of Life

but Life is nothing;

the lord is nothing.

Create something from nothing:

humans, the lords of creation.

Life abounding with lords,

but there can only be one in your life;

who is your lord?

what is your lord?

you only have one Lord...

THE STONES OF THE BODY

The body, the brain—

crystal clear windows,

collecting grime and being washed,

being washed and collecting mud,

filtering the world for the mind,

eventually shattered,

or antennas for radios,

receiving and sending signals,

being blown in the wind,

providing channels for the mind,

eventually bent out of shape or broken.

This transmission,

sometimes enhanced, exaggerated, nourished,

distorted, disrupted, destroyed

in its abode of the body:

a stone to bear—

lighter on some days,

heavier on others.

How ability or character can change,

or free will stripped in an instant

under the influence of anything of the body,

inside and outside it,

in the moment or in genetic eons written in it.

Drag your body!

War against your body!

Harm your body!

Live with your body!

Thrive in your body!

You need it

and it needs you:

the body’s fabric intertwined with the spirit’s fabric.

Biology is reality and a stone to bear.

THE STONES OF PERCEPTION

Perception can be the difference

between smiling or frowning,

the light bulb turning on, or scratching your chin,

making wise choices or poor choices,

learning from your mistakes or being haunted by them,

casting a stone of judgment or withholding it,

conflicting or compromising,

flourishing or decaying.

Ever heard 90 percent of all that joy

we wish for in the years to come

is the product of our perception

and only 10 percent

is the product of actually what happens to us

in our environment?

Perception:

seeing the stones and the world