A New Box For Old Shoes

A Paperchase DOT notebook, 192 pages of 80 gsm Kraft 8x10 paper.I tell you this just to let you know that these poems started their life in a larger notebook than normal, bought especially to try to stretch out my verse.The book begins with the days of my youth, following the mobile discotheques, who plied their trade in working men's clubs, on weekday nights when bingo wasn't on, for whatever reason.By the mid-point I am resonating with Kinston, Jamaica as well as Bilbao in Basque Country, never-mind that the two events were donkey's years apart.As usual, there is doubt, certainty, contemplation, meditation, pontification, procrastination and perhaps just a wee bit of illumination.I have sailed, as some might say, too close to the sun, or in my case, too close to religion; it is the ongoing question of increasing my belief in my own self and not being reliant on any external deity.Yet I do find solace in reading the spiritual writers, whether they be from all faiths or none; whether they are travelling far away or simply seeking stillness.I have also spent quite a few bath times listening to a Willie Nelson iPhone playlist, so this may be the reason for the poem-song Country Music.I am no singer, but I do hope that you like the words.