Gulf Poems etc

Catching up on Blog comments, I encourage you to go to www.poetsgulfcoast.wordpress.com and read Joe Hutchinson's poem and others by poets who are exercising their talent to continue awareness of the Gulf tragedy. And, here is the introduction to my book of poems, Sunfire. Word Mirrors How easily, almost thoughtlessly, we arise at the crack of dawn, stretch open our sleepy eyes, massage our groggy face, rub a hand through our hair and brush our teeth. We dress, check the mirror to see if our tie is straight, or if our skirt's the right length. Do my shoes match? And what about shaving? Putting on Eyeliner? Without a mirror? Forget it. Faced with the face of ourselves, we know what to do, what to fix, or leave alone. Faced with the face of ourselves, we know how to make our private face public to enter the world. So too with thinking and writing. Without reflection, what a smear of red lipstick our thoughts will be; without verbal investigation the bleeding cuts in our ideas; and so too, the darkness in our hearts, without words to express and know our feelings. When we find and use words to express our core emotions and thoughts we are expressing our core identity. Want to know who you are? Walk into the garden of yourself? Then, look at the reflection of yourself in the mirror of your words. We need a mirror to see our spine, the back of our head, neck, etc. So too we need the mirror of our language to face the face of our thoughts. Our words show us where the tie of our opinion needs straightened; the lipstick of our politeness needs daubed; facing the face of our thoughts and fears and joys, values, dreams and prayers, we can see who we are, inside, within our spirit. Thus, our words, written in thoughtful reflection, can mirror back to us an emotional knowledge from the deepest vaults of our self, our core identity, and our spirit. Our words mirror our heart. For me, the ultimate joy of poetry, and all of the arts, occurs when our creativity reflects and celebrates the human heart. Then, we know who we are.