Linda H LoveI have always loved poetry, from the time I was very small, when my mother read children's verses to me. The lilting sound of her voice, the rhythmic rhymes, the delight of the words, were magic to me. Since that time, I have enjoyed reading poetry, s well as writing some poems and short children's stories. But it was to music that I became the most devoted. Music was in the family. My mother was a piano teacher, my father a singer. So I became a concert pianist and have shared the beauty of music with many audiences. In the past few years, a condition called focal dystonia has limited my ability to play any technically difficult piece of music. This caused a severe year-long depression. But fortunately, I discovered that there is still much wonderful music I can play, and by listening to my body, have become my own physical therapist. Recent years have seen a great outburst of poetry, hence one might say I am a late-blooming flower. But for me, writing has nothing to do with time, late or early. Poems simply ask to be written, and I gladly oblige. Some are written in a flash, others require more working out, exchanging one word or phrase for another, or varying the rhythm, until the form is in accordance with my vision. My inspiration comes from Nature, people, events, and the circumstances of daily life. Most of the poems in this book were written between 2014 and 2021. Some earlier poems are identified by date. For me, music and poetry are tributaries of one stream. As rhythm is the heartbeat of music, so it is in poetry. Each poem, each piece of music, has its own rhythm, which is inextricably tied to its meaning. One's imagination can soar over the rhythm, but not without it. Music is poetry in sound, poetry is music in words. Both use imagination to clothe feelings which are universal to all human beings. We understand music and poetry because we are a part of it. I once had a piano teacher who said, The world of imagination is as real as any other world. And so I invite you to wander through the pages of this book, led by your imagination and your heart into that inexplicable soul we share together. Read More Read Less