Flights of Oratory

About the Book

Ever finish a walk along a vibrant wooded nature trail, accompanied by creatures bustling within their habitat, seeing and listening to a myriad of small, impressive wonders, and been stumped about how to describe their influence on you? Then take another stroll through this anthology, which highlights such a trail, and complete that desire. Along the way, you’ll be touched by these sensual poems, with their accumulation of apt adjectives. Included are intimate connections with a plethora of birds and mammals (wild and domestic), an assortment of blossoms and the heavens, while the sensory perceptions interpret the emotions emanating from the species involved – in any given season. Imagine how the fog might cloud your vision, yet alternately enhance your hearing to the avian sentiments expressed through a fugue. Then again how, with direct eye contact, a fox might assure us of his alliance with a human visitor. Also included is an appreciative hint into the feelings of beloved pets. While observing some obvious courtships being pursued, there’s the impression that things are going along just ducky. Oh, and keep your eye open for the campsite gem. Above all, this book can put you on the path for a vivacious communion with Mother Nature, and even entice you to say, “Good morning” to all those cheerful encounters.

About the Author

It’s often been said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But, without the picture are there still the words? Since the mid-80’s, several ribbons have been awarded for my photography (a second place in 2011), plus there were two recent exhibits, one each in 2011 and 2012. This is my first attempt to present the words alone, for most of the poems, as the pictures themselves; a determination wrought from a lack of having the camera. Born 27 January 1951, near Boston, MA, of two artistic parents (and maternal grandparents), there was never any formal instruction for myself in either photography or, with regards to the poetry, in literature. My first camera was purchased in late 1969, in Japan, at the very start of my 24 year naval career. Though this anthology was accrued over the past 13 months, the desire to express myself poetically, primarily to keep alive the sensual delights of many romances, began in the late 1970’s. It has been an ongoing forty-plus year learning experience with photography, and now it seems the road diverged, therefore, “...I took the one less traveled...” (Robert Frost). My current residence is in the near western suburbs of Philadelphia, though Boston is still my home.