I’ve called my book of poetry, Love’s Ellipsis! The Way to Wisdom! And, for reasons which I hope will become apparent. I’ve found that the Profound in life is often separated from the Ridiculous by only three dots. What a statement three little dots can make!. As you read, be on the lookout for the curious Ellipsis! It’s been used with intentionality!
This collection contains a little bit of everything, and a lot of something for everyone. The cover proclaims that it is Poetry to be Shared, and that is my intention. Please feel free to share any or all of it (with attribution, of course) without asking or seeking specific or individual permission from my publisher or me. For example: I’ve written a Poem called Tinker Toys and Fiddlesticks, a tribute to both Spring Fever and my good friends, Jeannie and Brandt Stickel (page 128). If you would like to send that poem to a friend, relative, enemy or otherwise, simply change the names, attribute the poem to me, then just do it. That’s exactly what I did when I changed Stickel to Kellett in the last line of the poem, modified it accordingly, and then sent it to my good friends, Dan, Becky, and their daughter, Jordain, plus their three boys, my “adopted” sons, Kieran, Cael and Jase, my, “My First Family Not Named Claybrook.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Cathy Rowbottom, my colleague at the Mendocino Beacon and Fort Bragg Advocate-News. When she retired, I replaced her and we’ve traded puns ever since. She wrote the poem below for me very recently, but didn’t give it a name. She then gave it to me in jest I did the rest; but, I named it, My Replacement! Things like this keep me humble! With friends like Cathy, a man doesn’t need many! A special few will do!
My Replacement! The heart of a Texan The soul of a poet The mind of a genius (Oh, yes, we all know it.) A minister, a lawyer, A Christian, a man, But most of all A football fan
Cathy Rowbottom, February 18, 2022
My email address is noted on the last page of this book, should you like to contact me. My UID just might support, accidentally, Cathy’s allegations in the last 2 lines of poetry above!
