Journey of Transition Volume 4

Alton PhD Sears

Description

The fourth of five Volumes that span 41 years and contain approximately 3600 writings combined into five volumes. This Volume is a compilation of 5 original booklets, Infinity-2004, Keys-2005, Pieces-2005, Energy-2005 and Treasures-2000.

They are thought-provoking, inspirational, amusing and nurturing, and embrace art, prose, poems and vignettes.

Sujets

• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456609740
• Langue: English

Extrait

A Journey
o f
Transition
Volume 4
 
By Alton Sears
 


Copyright © 2012 by Alton Sears
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0974-0
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
 
About The Author and Books
I would like to introduce myself to you. I was born October 16, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I joined the Air Force at the age of nineteen, and during my tour of duty became addicted to heroin. After my discharge from the service my life turned around. Unable to read, I began teaching myself using a dictionary and the Reader’s Digest. At the age of thirty-five I wanted to write poetry. I was introduced to the Dean of Students at Cal-State Los Angeles. The Dean took an interest in me and set up a battery of tests that proved that I did not possess the basic knowledge of rudimentary grammar.
The Dean informed me that if I were to study remedial English at Santa Monica City College, I would be given a probationary period at Cal-State Los Angeles. I completed and passed the course in my second semester. In my second quarter at Cal-State Los Angeles I met an instructor who taught me to write, and one year later, in 1969, I published a book of poetry called, Something of Feeling. During 1970 I was forced to end my academic pursuits due to personal illness. I later became a Certified Addictions Counselor and became employed by the United States Navy as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor. I remained with the Navy until my retirement at age sixty-four in January of 1997.
I have continued writing poetry since that time. In the year 1997, I produced and published the accumulation of poetry I had written since 1969 into four volumes of poems. Since I have been selling my works, the public has been very receptive and I have had numerous repeat customers.
Some of the comments regarding my work are as follows:
“I read one of your books; I was so touched that I cried.
When I read it again, I cried again!”
“I have been using your books as a part of my daily meditation.”
“I have never read a book that the author let himself be so vulnerable.”
Another feature of my books is that they appeal to all age groups. At my book signings I have watched as people stop to read my poems out loud to one another, seemingly lost in my verse.
Since then I have had the good fortune to have written nineteen more books, making twenty-four in all. The latest one merited the same response as the earlier ones. The book I wrote in 2009 is in volume 5.
That was then. What prompted me to put what I now call booklets into volumes was when I went to a rehabilitation school for the blind (I had become legally blind in 2008). At the school I met another author who suggested I make chapters of what I had written and put them into larger volumes. I considered this for a while but it was not until I was invited to share about poetry to a fourth grade class where I heard and felt the profound effect that it had on the students. It was at that time I realized that what my author friend said was true.
Since I like to tell stories here is the one about the class. I told the teacher who drove me to the school (and the teacher of the class) that I would start by talking about creativity. I spoke about the many types of creativity: painting, sculpture, designing clothes, art of many kinds and how it improves our imagination. Then I said to them that my creativity is writing poetry, but as you can see on the cover of these books there is artwork, which I also created. So many times we are able to do many kinds of creativity. Now I would like to share with you some of my poetry. Because I am visually impaired I will need your help. I then asked the question “How many of you like to read?”, and many hands went up. I passed out several of my books and told them to find what they would like to read and then read it. Then I asked one of the teachers to start us off. She read and without hesitation the students began to read. Forty-five minutes later, I asked the students if they would like to discuss what they read or did they want to continue reading. They wanted to continue reading. I could not see them clearly but could feel their excitement.
When the class was over the teacher came up to me and said “That session was amazing”! Later, while the other teacher was driving me home she expressed the same sentiment. She said, “That was amazing, you should have seen how their faces lit up when they were reading”. It was at that point I realized that I wanted to bring into fruition my complete works of poetry into a 5- volume set called “A Journey of Transition.”
- Alton
 


 
 
 
Foreword
The beginning
Is always uncertain
So is the road ahead
 
Infinity
2004
 

 
 

The Mountains
 
 
Going downhill with a pack on my back
A coiled rattlesnake in the middle of the track
His home must I go back, no just go around
We can live together we are both home
 
 
Mountains many mountains, many years ago
Many trails to remember, San Jacinto,
Mt. Gorgonio, San Gabriel and many, many more
 
 
Gazing up at the herd of bighorn sheep
Sighting a bear, a mountain lion gazing from a bush
Open fires of grandeur the great silence in the wilderness
 
 
Memories of hiking up trails seeing nature at its best
Trees sprayed by sunshine streams that babble a melody
Waiting to bathe you or to quench your thirst
These are the mountains I visited many years ago
 

 
 
 
And I must not forget the people hundreds of them
Some never before had ever climbed a mountain
They followed with tired legs and determined minds
Faces with unbelievable awe on them seeming to say
I can’t believe I’m doing this, climbing a mountain
 
 
The eagerness to set up camp, fetch wood for the campfire
Breaking timber with huge rocks, and laughing at the joy of it
Beloved thoughts of those who followed me
At the base camp everything ready, there was still time
To climb to the peak of the mountain
 
 
Some stayed behind enough for one day
Others could not resist another challenge
Like a gang of ruffians we trudged to the peak
And upon arrival there were proud faces
And we came back down the mountain like happy children
To meals that satisfied the end of day
 
 
Then as night began its entrance the celebration began
Lighting the fire and sharing our adventures
How rewarding hundreds of faces to remember
Hundreds of stories live in my heart
The mountains I made them my home too
They gave me joy
 

 
 
 
You won’t see the light
Until you come out of the dark
You won’t see improvement
Unless it is merited
 
 

 
 
I hardly listened
To where my strength came from
Yet I used it everyday
I just took it for granted
Used it like a child at play
And now as I wonder
How I wandered
Thorough life so blind
Never seeing the strength
That was given me
Was never really mine
 

 
 
 
Fresh, openness
That’s what beauty is like
I often see it in a flower
Today I saw it on your face
 
 
My heart filled with you
As your words
Stumbled out with questions
Longing to fill a void
That laid wanting
 

 
 

I was touched by the look in your eyes
And swayed by your gentle lips
And as you whispered words of love
I was heart filled with your attention
 
 
What you are good to
Will follow you
If it is good for you
 
 
I came here to see
To listen and to be heard
To see what is here
To listen to what I cannot see
And to pass on
The accumulation of wealth
I have received
In that way I shall
Be heard
 

 
 

She lived
Not in the shadow of life
But in its worthfulness
Until she died
 
 
What can be more pleasurable
Then peace
 
 
Time travels
From one place to another
And leaves no tracks
 

 
 

You gave me
A ladder to climb
And only the first step
Was the hardest
 
 
They danced together like fire licking the night
With movements seeming to catch
The soul of each other
In the moments of their light
 
 
You were there at the hour of love
When the dark days had passed
And the nights had forgotten
Whatever I wanted to be
Except for the spark
That you found
 

 
 

The mask fails me
I cannot see
It blinds me
From vulnerability
Humility and love
 
 
Your eyes like magnets
Drew me into your world
And I found another world
 
 
There are dirt roads
There are paved roads
And there are roads
That lead to other states
But the road to recovery
Is the Glory road
 

 
 
 
I have traveled
To places beyond the earth
And flew in dreams
 
 
Her golden hair
Her face flushed pink
Her sparkling eyes
Gazed upward to absorb
The reading she had just focused on
Seeming to want to hold on to
The expression of joy in her heart
Another grand experience to remember
 

 
 

Once upon a dream
I found a nightmare
And worked through it
 
 
I give my heart and soul
To this work
How could I do less
For Him who sustains me
 

 
 
 
Everywhere I go
Aliveness follows
Or is it
That I follow aliveness
Hey, I found out
I’m in the middle of it
 
 

 
 
You are a beauty
To gawk at
And I am proud
To be your gawker
 
 
If you were a star
I’d follow you from afar
To brighten my night
And lay dreams to my day
 

 
 

It is sheer prudence
That I am not a judge
Of human nature
I would do my fellow man
And myself a terrible injustice
 
 
The magic magnet
Is in the spirit
Of the universe
 

 
 
 
I have no design
Other than to live
In the present
But this is often
Interrupted by
Life’s demands
Including my own
Therefore I honor
Those moments
I get to be with
The present
 
 

 
 
I watched a three or four year old
Recklessly drive a cart into a rack of clothes
She probably didn’t know what abandonment is
I envied her delight