ISBN-13: 9781412059718 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 264 str.
Who Has Seen the West: Poems, Songs and Reflections is a book which invites the reader on a poetic exploration of the soul of the North American West...from the dawn of human arrival... through the historic Old West...to post-modern and zen-like reflections on past, present and future. Integrating idioms as diverse as cowboy and haiku poetry, visions, dreams and song lyrics, while interweaving historical record, fiction and biographical sketch, this original work illumines the existential struggles and wisdom of prophetic figures such as Sitting Bull and Big Bear...and everyone else who follows their dreams from the Missouri to the Pacific....and the Canadian West. Stories of the cowboy, pioneer, native visionary, western woman, artist, iconoclast and adventurer are brought to life in tales which give voice to their heroic life journeys. The book is organized into thematic sections entitled Glimpses, The Natural West, Peoples Who Came First, The Old West, Of Cowboys, Cowgirls 'n Poets, Outlaws, Heroes 'n Such, This Western Romance, Now And Zen in The West, Places Of The Heart, The Enduring West, and Epilogue. Far from being exclusively concerned with the affairs of mankind... consideration is given to those who do not speak with a human tongue... the wild horse, the salmon, the eagle, and many other spirits of the West. Comic relief is achieved through the bridging of cowboy and oriental metaphors, in such poems as Haiku Noon, and The Cowboy Met The Buddha. Contemporary moral and environmental issues are viewed through poems such as Karla Faye, and The Oceans Are Turning Blue, while spiritual themes are reflected throughout. End notes provide historical references, further resources, and the author's music discography.