Growth

By A.A. Winston

We all go through different stages in life. New experiences – good, bad, indifferent – make us who we are as we age. We start out young and impressionable.

We move toward a more enlightened station in life as we move into young adulthood. We then progress, if we continue to learn, to realizations and impressions shaped through a variety of interactions and relationships – both direct and indirect.

With Growth, the reader follows the evolution of a person through phases of his life. From a teenager/young man who lost his father when he was 12 to a middle-aged man with some wear and tear. He didn’t fully know how to show his feelings. To this day as an older man, the author still doesn’t always know how to show his feelings. But poetry is an outlet, a sort of safety valve.

While the first volume leans on idealism, the next two provide more depth, intellect, and imagination with a bent toward hope. The author wouldn’t necessarily call many of them good, but they are raw and unpolished. The level of sophistication from Immaturity increases in style and substance in what follows through further Maturing and Continued Maturation. The seasoning of time provides greater insight and straightforwardness with an inclination toward irritability.
Growth represents phases of a person’s life that he hopes others may relate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781663249821

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Copyright © 2023 A.A. Winston.

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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ISBN: 978-1-6632-4981-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4985-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4982-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023900925

iUniverse rev. date: 01/16/2023

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

IMMATURITY

MIND MELT

A SPIRIT WITHOUT THE SOUL

A SHORT ONE

TOO CHEAP TO KEEP

THE FLIGHT OF SPRING

HUMBLE GRATITUDE

SLUMBER

THE UNKNOWN NIGHT

GETTING IT STRAIGHT

THE MIX

CREATIVITY

HUH?

REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD

RETROSPECTION

IT’S BEEN SAID

THE SECRET CLUE

SECRETS OF THE UNTELLING

REVEALING DARKNESS

THE WRITTEN WORD

HIGH AND INSIDE

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?

THE LESSON

PLAY DEEP

PASSING ON

PRECIOUS FRIENDS

THE FINALS

NO FOUNDATION, NO ANCHOR

THE FEELING

FOR AN INSTANCE

LONESOME DESIRE

MISUNDERSTANDABLE

EVERY INCH OF THE WAY

SYMPTOMS

CARRIE ANN

MODERN SOCIETY

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

DREAMS

CONTEMPLATIONS

REALIZATIONS

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

MOMENTS

THE FINE LINE

INNER QUALITY

THE SPECTRUM

DISCONTENT

FRIENDSHIP VERSUS SOMETHING MORE

THE LIMIT

ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS

CONCENTRATION

THE END

IT’S OVER

FAMILY TRAIT

A THOUGHT

ATTITUDES

THE MIND

DETERMINATION

TREND REVERSAL

A SPECIAL REWARD

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

SERVICE HELP

THE AWAITING

REACH OUT

WHERE’S THE RELATIONSHIP?

CORNUCOPIA

MELODY MEDLEY 1

MELODY MEDLEY 2

MELODY MEDLEY 3

MELODY MEDLEY 4

SHOCKED

SHOW AND TELL

WHO IS TO BLAME?

HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

ON AND ON …

DAZED

THE WAY I SEE IT

MATURING

PINNING THE TAIL

I KNOW THE REACTION

RED

WHO DO YOU WANT?

LOST IN THE PAGES

ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED

NEMESIS

THE HEAT

SHOULD I DARE?

LULLA-BYE

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

OPEN BOOK

MEDIACRACY

FALLEN FRIENDSHIP

PERIODICAL PUPILS

LISTEN

A SIMPLE VALENTINE

JUST FRIENDS, OKAY?

FORGET IT NOT

YEA OR NAY

PAINFUL PRICE

ISOLATION

OUT OF REACH

CAUSAL RELATION

EXPLANATION, PLEASE

BETWEEN A LAUGH AND A TEAR

CLASSIC

DEFINITION, PLEASE

THIS CLOSE

FAMILY

CLOUDS WITHIN THE MIND

SUNBEAM

DON’T LOSE SLEEP

SELF-PITY

EXHAUSTION, PART 1

EXHAUSTION, PART 2

UNACHIEVABLE

BASEBALL

GET IT STRAIGHT!

THE PREDICAMENT

METHODS

SPEAK TO ME

NATURALLY

FORGET THEM NOT

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

TAKING STOCK

MOTHER AND SON

INTOXICATION

HEROES OF OUR TIME

PASSION

ONE STEP AWAY

CRYING FOR LOVE

FIRST RHYME

YOUR TURN TO FINISH

THE HEART IS HOME

A SHIFT IN WEIGHT

IMAGES

FALSE CONCEIT

TIME TO COME HOME

THE WANTING OF A WISH

CITY LIGHTS

PRIDE AND RESPECT

VISIONS

A PAPER MIND

DOUBLE TAKE

THE PERSON WITHIN

FORTUNES OF LIFE

THE BURNING FIRE

RECORDED LINES

YA KNOW?

ALPHABET COUPLETS 1

ALPHABET COUPLETS 2

A SUBTLE DEPENDENCY

CONTINUED MATURITY

BETCHA CAN’T

KAT MAN DO

SILENT SOUND

THE VIEW

AHEAD OF THE TIMES

THE RIGHT OF THE WRONG

SANCTUARY

THE ACHIEVEMENT

THE NIGHT WITHOUT CLUTTER

FRAILTY

GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING

I STILL BELIEVE

SHADED FATE

THE VOICE

RENAISSANCE MAN

THE REVELATION

TRANSLATION

THE ROPES

SCREAMS ON THE INSIDE

DERANGEMENT

TRIVIAL

BLUE

TION’ED

STRAIN OF THE HEART

THE DEVIL

I SAY ONE

JUST A QUIP

HUNGER

FOR REAL

WHAT A CLICHÉ!

HEADACHE

A TIP OF THE GLASS

SINK OR SWIM

JUST HANGIN’

A FIGURE

SUNSET, SUNRISE

REVENGE

QUIET, PLEASE

MY GENERATION

THE NOTICE

MARCHING ON

THE BALANCING ACT

SHHH!

NO GAME

HOW FAR WE’VE COME

INNOCENCE

I SAY TWO

OVER THE SHOULDER

ME, SORRY?

YOU

FUEL-FILLMENT

F AND E AND A

SOBER DRUNKENNESS

ENLIGHTENMENT

CIRCULATION

THROWING WORDS TOGETHER

THROWING MORE WORDS TOGETHER

CLOSED

RANDOM THOUGHT

ANOTHER RANDOM THOUGHT

TIME ZONE

A LOT LIKE LOVE MORE

GET OUTTA HERE

GOLDEN RULE

SIGHT UNSEEN

SOMEDAY

MOMMA CRYIN’

SHE WASN’T THERE (REPULSE THIS)

WEALTH

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

DON’T HOLD BACK

RING, RING

HE LAY THERE/LIFE REMEMBERED

UNFINISHED?

INTRODUCTION

We all go through different stages in life. New experiences—good, bad, and indifferent—make us who we are as we age. We start out young and impressionable.

We move toward a more enlightened station in life as we move into young adulthood. We then progress, if we continue to learn, through realizations and impressions shaped through our varied interactions and relationships, both direct and indirect.

In Growth, the reader follows the evolution of the phases of my life. From a teenager/young adult who lost his father when he was twelve to a middle-aged man with some wear