Letters From The Hole
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The Hole
As
I near the edge,
I
once again fall back,
Deep
into the hole that holds
me
captive.
They
look down at me
in
the midst of my cesspool of discontent.
I
view their world with visions of
what
could be.
But
the walls are steep.
As
many times as I try to climb out,
I
lack the ability to find that last foothold,
Reach
fresh air.
I
will not adjust like the others.
My
search will continue at all costs.
I
must establish higher ground.
And
yet,
I
wonder if my vision will be worth
the
wasted lifetime it swallows.
Swim For Your Life
Wading
through life’s murky waters,
Trying
to save or pull victims
Out
of the drowning pool,
Caught
in their own misconceptions of life,
Not
knowing which way is up,
Looking
for the clear shallow water,
Where
they can lift their heads above the wake,
Breathe
the fresh salty air.
Let
down by the sand bars
That
shift through the years,
And
leave them in the abyss, struggling again.
No
man is an island
And
no lifeboat is on the horizon.
Swim
for your life!
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Book Details
About the Book
In 1975, I registered for the draft and graduated from high school.
That was the year that Saigon fell and the United States pulled out of Vietnam. I had dodged the bullet and headed off to college.
My classmates were Vietnam Vets and Journalistic Rebels ready to change the world. The rest of the 70's was filled with the Cold War, Jimmy Hoffa disappearing, the Jonestown Massacre, the Soviet invasion of Afganistan, and the development of the nuetron bomb. For me, it was time to question our existence and our purpose. These poems written late at night, on pieces of scratch paper, became Letters From The Hole.
About the Author
Brian K. Smith attended College Of The Mainland on a Journalism scholarship. While there, he was an editor of the newspaper and was selected Vice-President of the Phi Theta Kappa. Brian received his Associates Degree in 1978 from COM. He also attended the University of Houston at Clear Lake, pursuing an English degree. Brian has received awards from the UIL and the Galveston and Houston Press. In college, his poems were published in a collection with Pulitzer Prize winner, Vassar Miller. Brian interviewed John Henry Faulks, author who was blacklisted in the McCarthy trials and Dave Kelly, controversial poet of the 70”s, while studying Journalism. It was his relationships, experiences and a creative writing class that changed his thoughts to writing books and away from writing newspaper articles.