Also available in a full-color and kindle versions. This book asks important questions about being alive. Footprints on Fresh Snow. Defoliation of Self. Great Spirit. In the Bean Patch on a Warm Spring Day. I am a Swift Moving River. What If This Is Hell? My Love Is Afraid. Insatiable Love. Where Does It Hurt. The Sparrows Gather Here. A Man and a Woman. Perhaps This Is Paradise. Darkness Between Intervals. Intuit. The Dark Detour Down. At My Mother's Grave. Tomorrow I Live Or Die Inside. A Deadly Combination, Especially Tonight. A Porous Membrane. Why Do You Keep Coming Back? Night Crossing. Duct Tape and Bailing Wire. Daring Not to Speak. A Foggy Night. The Sun Is Down. These poems and more are waiting for you. Defoliation of Self I sleep with the window open and the furnace off It rests my mind I love being alone after days out with people, or Without them working outside defoliating weeds And blackberries, truth be told I lost my trust in People long ago, Diagnosis: not very social I work alone, talk to myself Meditate with my eyes open pushing and Pulling machines on wheels Described myself as extroverted, The tests I took said introvert In high school I earned a perfect score on Reading comprehension Not so high on anything else Diagnosis: obsessed with self Know a woman who swallowed glass, Called for an ambulance Why would you harm yourself and Then immediately call for help? I ask myself, why do one or the other? Diagnosis: dangerous to self You keep moving on from man to man wondering Why they leave you or you leave them after years together Growing further and further apart Diagnosis: unknown I sleep with the window open under 5 wool blankets and a comforter, By myself, I like my life, feel close to the Spiritual presence of creator A Foggy Night 1 The busses are all running late Traffic is bad Tempers are running short The rent is due with nothing left to pay What is a man to do? My favorite thing to do on a night Like this is to walk and walk Think things through Make plans And this is what I'll do 2 The night we argued and went our own Separate ways it was like this Foggy, congested, dark, and wet Neon light so inviting to lure you in Take advantage before letting you go away again 3 What does a man think about the night Before he is put to death? What does he feel? Of all possibilities, what does he want for His last night on earth? Who with? Are these not legitimate questions to ask Oneself on a night like this? Why wait for a sentence of death? Intuit Fear not death Welcome her when she comes An old woman heavy with new life Carried on rivers flowing into new oceans Carried from this to the Next by our angels of life The Sun Is Down The sun is down The work is done Travails of living On the mend Time to relax Enjoy peace of mind Meditate on silence Of this night Before the day begins Again
About the Author: Patrick Leach lives in Portland, Oregon. An artist and a poet, Leach has written professionally for businesses and universities. He is co-author of a soon to be published biography of artist C.S. Price. In 1995 he abandoned the corporate life, focusing on painting and poetry while earning money caring for client's yards and homes. Leach studied creative writing (poetry) at Cornell University (B.S. General Studies, 1972), and holds two Masters degrees from Washington State University (Sociology, Education). "I've always considered myself a writer. I've taken many paths, tried a variety of occupations, always coming back to writing and art."