I'm Not A Poet And I Already Know It or DIVORCE(The Dark Side Lives On)

About the Book

Mere words alone cannot describe the ever-changing character of a person who strives at being different and non-conforming, while projecting himself as a mysterious and intriguing man. The author Douglas M. F. Steele gracefully takes on a persona as a unique and strange individual to those he meets. He strikes me as someone who ‘just has to be on’ at all times. He is a person whose reputation sometimes precedes him before he actually speaks. One gets the feeling that his personality might be on ‘auto pilot’, long before he enters a room and mingles with others. The fascination of his physical appearance is alluring to the opposite sex, as he carries himself in a bold and rugged manner. He has a confident swagger about him that rarely goes unnoticed. His presence is imposing as he stares directly into your eyes. When he speaks, his conversation is deliberate, intrinsic and fascinating. It’s as if his personality commands your attention and you willing give it freely, because he seems sincere and ever so interested in you. But as quick as that image is formulated in ones mind, he can reverse the process and recede back into obscurity, as the same man stands alone naked of these virtues before your very eyes. Then without warning he quietly exits from view as if he was never there. He does this as if challenging anyone to impede upon his boundaries that safeguard him from his own reality. This is his persona that seems to change like New England weather.

I had met the author approximately seventeen years ago when his life just started to turn around for the better. He seemed to be on top of the world during this segment of his life. And it was quite obvious to anyone who met the author, for him or her to recognize the shear importance of what his family meant to him. He was an extremely happy and a god fearing man at that particular time, going to church on a regular basis and trying to live by gods rule. He expected these same principles of others, to be honest and truthful at all times and respecting one self, as we should respect our god. In fact, my wife and I met he and his wife at church and our children became good friends, and we did socialize on numerous occasions. Though we are no longer close friends, I recently agreed to help him publish his work under the above stated ‘Penname’. It is this close relationship with his god, which appears to be quite evident in his work. Once you start reading his poetry, you will find that he challenges his god on moral principles and he seems to have a love hate relationship with him, as it appears throughout many of his poems. He once told me that when he meets his maker, they are going to have “quite a falling out”; the authors’ way of saying that he’s going to hell.

The author created most of his poems while under severe stress, depression and anxiety during a recent period of his life. His collection of verse is expressed in a psychotic and slightly neurotic form, highlighting the inner most thoughts and depths of emotion, of a changing man. Though his antisocial behavior has been quite prevalent throughout the years that I have known him, he is still a caring individual to those who are close and those he likes to help. The author hopes that his simplistic verse can offer comfort to other troubled souls, who currently maybe dealing with or who have dealt with unexpected tragedies, stress and anguish encountered during their life. His intent was purely to inform others that they are not the only individuals experiencing hardship, as described in his unconventional form of expression.

The author concedes he is not a poet and recognizes that others may well ridicule him in his attempt at writing poetry. The author once stated to me in his usual crude and arrogant fashion that he realizes “mere mortals have a ‘Failsafe Mentality’ to bring done their fellow man”. Further, “If

About the Author

I always considered myself as an honest trustful and genuine person, blended with traditional values, from a humble up bringing. We did not have much money when I was young but family unity and love unquestionably flourished bountifully. I have certainly made some unique life choices thus far. First as a dairy farmer, then becoming a teacher and last, an agent of the government. The most important thing any of us should recognize about our own life is to realize that it’s finite. With that said I would suggest that all of us continue to plod along till we’re done.