A Variety Of Verse

The Rambling of a Frustrated Poet

by D.M. Parker


Formats

Softcover
£12.95
Softcover
£12.95

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 09/07/2008

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 74
ISBN : 9781436348300

About the Book

A VARIETY OF VERSE is exactly that, for it is a collection of a variety of poetic forms and formulas such as pantoums, free verse and rhyming quatrains that address a variety of topics such as personal thoughts, fears, memories, the loss and pain that the author has experienced and has witnessed in others. Some of the poems address contemporary issues such as the unconditional compliance to dogmas to the loss of love and the loss of loved ones. Some pieces are humorous and silly while others are contemplative and questioning.

THE WILD WIND PLACE

There is a wild wind place
near Langtry
where the wind blows up
a canyon and spirals
the loose soft dirt there
Dust Devils live in that place
almost all year ‘round
At night,
you can hear them calling
to one another,
making plans to spin the ground
on the morrow.
I can’t understand
what they say, but
an old Indian friend of mine does,
but he won’t tell me.
He says I have to find out for myself.
He says, “Listen real close
to the sound those
dust devils make.
You can’t mistake their clear
pronunciation of words.”
He tells me that it is
a language found in nature.
“So, it’s part of us too.”
The wild wind place is where
the dust devils live
wild and free.
One of the last things that’s that way.
I hope nobody tries to tame them.


About the Author

D.M. Parker was born in Anderson, South Carolina and grew up on military bases throughout the South and Germany. The death of his father in Viet Nam in 1968 hurled Parker into the strange and alien world of “civilian” life. Somehow he survived. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art and a Master of Arts with a major in Sculpture from the University of Louisville in Kentucky as well as teaching certificates in secondary Art Education and English. Parker is a teacher, storyteller, flute maker and artist. He has worked as a teacher in Texas for the past twenty-four years and served as Language Arts Department Chairperson for twelve of those years. He served as a sabbatical replacement instructor in Sculpture and Three Dimensional Design at the University of Louisville, taught Drawing for the Renaissance Development Corporation in Kentucky and Art and Music in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He has been writing poetry since Junior High School and pursued this interest through out college and graduate school where he studied creative writing under Dr. Sena Naslund. His poems have appeared in Voice of the Wind, the official publication of The International Native American Flute Association and his photography in Western Horseman magazine; both his writing and photography can be view on www.triond.com.