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    Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes: A Poetry Collection
    Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes: A Poetry Collection
    Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes: A Poetry Collection
    Ebook144 pages1 hour

    Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes: A Poetry Collection

    By Joelle Steele

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    About this ebook

    This collection of 150 poems and song lyrics was compiled by the author as most representative of the times and events in her life. The poems were previously published, either individually or in chapbook form, and the lyrics are unpublished but have all been performed in song format. The subject matter is both broad and personal.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJoelle Steele
    Release dateApr 10, 2014
    ISBN9781940388090
    Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes: A Poetry Collection
    Author

    Joelle Steele

    Joelle Steele writes mystery and ghost novels and non-fiction books about face & ear ID, handwriting forgery, art, astrology, cat care, genealogy, and horticulture. And, she is a legal writer of contract templates for small business. She has extensive published credits and has worked as a writer, editor, and publisher since 1973.

    Read more from Joelle Steele

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      Book preview

      Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes - Joelle Steele

      Perceptions, Passions, and Paradoxes

      A Poetry Collection

      By Joelle Steele

      Copyright Joelle Steele 2014

      Published by Many Hats Publications/Joelle Steele Enterprises Publishing at Smashwords

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Preface & Acknowledgments

      Physics of Love

      Thursday's Child

      Tapestry of Eden

      Sesh Kemet

      Under A Weeping Sky

      Lyricalities

      Other Books by Joelle Steele

      About the Author

      Preface & Acknowledgments

      For many years I kept a journal, a combination of prose and poetry that recalled my observations and feelings about the world and the events of my adult life: love, marriage, divorce, relationships, relocations, career, tragedy, illness, injury, deaths, and all the other assorted chaos one would expect to find in a trip down memory lane. Collectively, the poems were a chronicle of my perceptions of life, my passions for people and nature, and the paradoxical non-conclusions about things that I simply could not fully comprehend.

      Most of my poems were published previously, both individually and in chapbook form. My lyrics are similar to my poems, but most of them were rhymed and embellished to make them singable. I wrote the melodies for most of them, but others were written for a specific composer. Only a handful were ever published, although all of the ones in this collection have been performed.

      I've crafted hundreds of poems and lyrics, but for this book I selected 150 that I liked best or that I felt were most representative of the time and events I was recording. Since many were published in chapbooks, I have arranged them in this collection under the titles of those chapbooks. I punctuate most of my poetry for comprehension as a courtesy to readers, but in this collection I could not additionally format the lines of the poems to make them flow the way they should sound because they must remain aligned flushleft to accommodate this ebook format.

      My thanks go to Gretchen Wilding and Lisa Miller for their input and assistance in editing this collection.

      Joelle Steele

      April 2014

      Physics of Love

      Relationships can be messy. Mine were certainly no exception. You fall in love. You fall out of love. You're in love but you question everything. Love flows smoothly or crashes on a rocky shore. It waxes, it wanes. It grows, it changes, it dies. Love is betrayed. Love goes wrong. Love is joy. Love ends in anger, disappointment, tragedy, agony, sadness, loneliness, or relief. These 28 poems were written over a period of about 35 years and they seem to cover all those aspects of love.

      The Physics of Love

      Impossible to distinguish

      where you end and I begin.

      The laws of nature bind us,

      the force of gravity draws us to each other,

      time cannot break us apart.

      We are a graceful exercise in quantum physics,

      a dynamic continuum of inseparable feelings,

      quarks connected at the subnuclear level.

      We are infinite in our desire,

      finite in our commitment.

      Like the peculiar Möbius strip,

      even when we are miles from each other,

      we are still unendingly together.

      Almost

      I almost believe you

      when a pear-shaped sapphire

      embeds itself in the ruby setting

      that is your angry left cheek,

      and wisps of damp golden strands

      frame that little jewel

      for one brief moment.

      I almost believe you,

      but I cannot even hear the words

      that tumble from your trembling lips

      onto the heavy carpet of air

      that floats between us.

      Bells ring inside my head,

      the alarm that warns me

      to pack my bags and hit the road

      before my gaping wound infects

      with the germs that spread from lies.

      I almost believe you,

      as your magic fingers linger at my shivering chin

      and your gaze dissolves into my eyes.

      Almost.

      Cancer Rising

      Smiling, happy, concerned, caring.

      That is what you see.

      My astrological ascendant speaks volumes for me

      when I cannot speak for myself.

      But until I know you very well,

      until I can see into your heart

      and know that you are really there,

      it is all I am prepared to give.

      My glassy surface only.

      In time, I may offer up a glimpse of my self.

      And then you can decide what is real

      and if you like what you see.

      Caretaker of My Heart

      You are the caretaker of my heart,

      keeper of my jealous rage,

      one who listens and hears –

      all at the same time.

      You feed me,

      nourish my hungry spirit,

      kiss my durable feet,

      put me on a pedestal,

      adore me –

      as only a goddess should be adored.

      You are my lover,

      the perfect complement to my soul,

      my companion and fellow sufferer

      who rises above it all

      and saves me from myself.

      Caught In The Act

      You knew I was coming;

      I'm never late.

      Whispers and a woman's girlish laugh

      caught my ear.

      I opened the door to find you

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