For over the past 28 years my musings, poems, and other writings have touched a number of people. Some of these works have opened up my experiences to be shared with others as I had taken on the role of a mental health advocate and some of these works were used solely for the purpose of sharing my feelings as a person, a husband or a concerned person living in recovery from substance addiction. This  work is intended to be an eye opener of poetic experiences that I am sharing with you. I write as a person coping with a mental illness who has been trained in observation who is sharing his life experiences and emotions with you. I am one of many. This form of work has been going on for many many years and is now an avocation that I do enjoy committing to with my time. As was said I am just one of many. Welcome to this experience.

Perhaps some of the images I that I use will touch you with their simple beauties. If not, enjoy the humanities and abilities that I am sharing with you. The common message of everyday life.

Some will say that I have a different view of life because I had entered into a life hampered with addictions and mental illness at a very young age. I hope that you can see that I and people like me are really not that different from those who live without our labels. Perhaps you will be able to relate to the emotions and thoughts that I am sharing in this project through the audio-visual media I am choosing to use at this time. I want you to see we are people with human attributes and human abilities. We are people.

In my poems I talk to God, or my conception of God as if I were in God’s presence ( or should I say at least I had the ability to have God’s ear). I think we call that praying. I will talk to you as if I was reading to you at a coffee-house or in some modest workshop in which I was a participant.  I have done this before and I will probably do it again. (Yes for real I do this from time to time ).

You see ( I say that from time to time ) I am like you or perhaps like someone you know. Perhaps I am like someone you love. I have been in what I call living in recovery for a long time just taking life one day after another one day after another one day.

My wife and others who know me forget how difficult it is for me to be flexible enough to adapt to the every day stress of life yet I do okay for the better part at least with Brenda and that is what matters in the big picture.

So the writing continues and you can see the modest human attribute and abilities that I am sharing. You will see true life emotions, hopes, struggles, and dreams in the poetic form.

You see people like me ( you know – the nobody poets ) might not light up like Wordsworth but with the help of others we are put on a stage. A stage from on which we are appreciated.

And you ask me why I write –

I write because I write. It keeps down the inner-noise and it pushes away vagrant thoughts. The simple avocation of being a poet- a writer-an author is part of my identity. Imagery is just imagery. Love is love. Lest we accept poetic devices for what they are, just the poetic license, we run the risk of insane thinking. Be Well Today.