Here is my soul, undress her page by page Behold her private acts upon the stage Pray, hold her gently as you browse and look This is my soul you handle, not a book. Poetry is a precious, ancient wine, made to be savored and remembered, not gulped and forgotten. It is the grand opera of life, which must be performed to be appreciated. My hope is that you will take time to read it, learn it, and passionately recite it to your loved ones. Without art, life would not be enough because it would lack in truth and beauty. Like all the arts, poetry is music of the soul, whose deep penetrating tunes...

These 46 poems (12 unrhymed, 20 short, and 14 long) were written between 1990 and 1993, when I was in my mid forties. Each poem is introduced by a few sentences to set the mood, focus the attention, and entice the reader to read between the lines. The themes that permeate this collection are love, passion, grief, yearning, reflections, beauty, and nature. The metaphors are vivid, paint images for the eyes of imagination, invite interpretation, and provoke contemplation. Whereas a child, hitting on the piano keys, can bring agony out of ordinary notes, an accomplished pianist can bring delight...

This, my fourth book of poems, has 78 poems, which range from short to long, rhymed to un-rhymed, sonnets, haikus, meditations, and literary thoughts. The poems, penned between 1995 and 2001, are listed in chronological order. They are also listed as 37 long poems, 21 sonnets, and 20 short poems. The book was first published in 2002. I have revised and reformatted it for easier reading and brought it up to current poetical standards. Its emotional range covers love, grief, beauty, nature, joy, relationships, disappointments, humanity, philosophy, sexuality, child abuse, and death. Each poem...