For as long as I can remember – early childhood, really – I have always enjoyed poetry. I suppose, looking back, that it was the works of Shel Silverstein (“Where The Sidewalk Ends,” “A Light In The Attic”) that really served as my first exposure to metric verse. I always came away from reading his work – and the work of other poets – both enlightened and entertained.
As I grew older, my appreciation for poetry and poets only broadened, as I came to realize that – far from simply being characterized by metric verse and a particular rhyme scheme – poetry, in essence, is defined by human experience; emotion, relationships, observation, and the travails of life itself.
For my part, I have always enjoyed writing poetry, and find it to not only be cathartic and therapeutic…but also photographic, in a sense. Seeing relationships between objects, people, and concepts – and seeking to capture these in a poetic format of some kind – has always been a delight of mine, such that “Arduous Vales” was eventually the result.
For a long time, I had wanted to compose a book of my original poems, if for no other reason than to have them “memorialized” and somehow established in perpetuity for long after I’m gone. I have been fortunate to have done so in the last year with 111 of my original works, and decided on the name of “Arduous Vales” (the title of one of my poems) due to the title’s reflection of what I feel is the overall nature of the book.
What do I mean by that? Simply this: that these are poems about life; the struggles, victories, exuberances, and lamentations alike that all comprise the human experience as a whole. I have included poems that reflect my own struggles with depression, as well as my own resolution, anger, resignation, happiness, sadness, and many other seasons of life that I am certain all human beings experience.
So as I say elsewhere on the website, if you are a lover of poetry – or perhaps just someone who wishes to share in the human experience – “Arduous Vales” is likely a good book for you. Please feel free to purchase a copy via the link and leave a positive review, should you enjoy and / or appreciate it.
Thank you!
