Introduction
By its very nature prose is intimate. When you show your real self -- your fears, your needs, your desires -- you are creating a sense of intimacy with the reader. The language of intimacy is the language of risk and love. Being intimate means being vulnerable and taking chances. Maybe that is why many people are afraid of being intimate. They don't want to be hurt.But lovers are vulnerable. Someone once wrote these beautiful lines: "Love like you've never been hurt." That really says it all. The world can be a beautiful place, despite all those people who are trying so hard to fuck it up. Because of them, I feel an overwhelming need to stake out my territory, and tell you who I am and what I stand for. I am not like those people, and their values are not mine. I want you to know that. Dylan Thomas once wrote; "Do not go gently into the night..." I now understand what he meant. I need to have my say before I go into my night. So this Website is my stage. Here I will make my stand and have my say. It's a little like yelling from the mountaintops. The philosophy of Ayn Rand, Objectivism, thrilled me when I first discovered it. Objectivism stands for reason not mysticism, individualism not collectivism. I've been called by some a Conservative Libertarian. I take that as a compliment. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines a Conservative as one who holds moderate opinions in politics, as opposed to revolutionary or radical; and a Libertarian as "Pertaining to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as opposed to the doctrine of necessity." Why the Net you may ask? Why not? This is what the Net was tailor-made for. The Internet is a wonderful medium which we can all use to reach out and touch people in a way that is not threatening. I am a toucher. Sometimes when I reach out to touch someone they pull away. "What are you afraid of" I ask. I get no real answer. This way I don't need one. Don't pay too much attention to the style. I am not a professional writer. I am an artist who paints with words also. Don't pay too close attention to the words either. It is the thoughts behind the words that are important. If you read the words to many of the world's songs you will find that they are not really poetry. But when put to music, they become magical little worlds of moods and rhythm that we can enter and live in for awhile. Likewise I try to convey a rhythm in my writings. I want my prose to "sing" to you, to move you the way they moved me when I wrote them. At one stage in my career as a professional painter, I was into subliminal art. The objective was to complete a painting and convey a message with as little color as possible. Some of these poems are short and the intention is the same - to convey a message with as few words as possible. What about the flowers? Well, what about them? Flowers represent peace and beauty to me. They represent the peace of wildness and the beauty of God and nature. I love flowers. When I speak of God, it is not in the religious sense. I believe that God has nothing to do with religion, and that religion was conceived by men to control other men. I believe in the Godhead. I believe that man and God are inseparable. I believe that God represents the highest ideals and the very best in man. When I use the word "man" I mean both men and women, unless it is used in the context of a relationship between two people. The english language is lacking in this area. Last but not least, I want to thank a few people who helped me in producing this little book of prose. Thank you Sharon for being the sunshine in my life for so many years. You inspired me in ways you never understood. Thank you Carol, Kent, Brad and Anne for your acceptance and love and for being my family. Thank you Mom and Dad for being my example and for always being there. Thank you Cheryl for the name "Word Pictures" and for your encouragement. Thank you Jill for your never-ending acceptance, love and support and for being the best friend a man could ever have. I hope you get something out of my writings. If not, you are just one click away from putting me out of your mind forever.
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