So You Want to Be a Poet

What is poetry? This question invites the reader to enter this collection of poems. Within is an array of free-verse offerings covering a range of themes-a would-be poet's dawdling ("Confessions of a Procrastinator"), the fading of summer ("Vestiges"), the ongoing war in Syria ("I Am Omran"), a mysterious drowning ("The Silent River"), the frustration of mediocre golf skills ("On the Cusp"), the fanciful account of a new home for mankind ("Eden Revisited"), a self-ordained preacher's quest to save his best friend's soul, mini episodes on the realities, contrasts, and ironies of life ("The World According to Fedley Tresh and Charley Cain"), impressions at a poetry reading ("Poetry Reading at the Bookstore"), remembering Mary Oliver ("When a Poet Dies"), and dozens of others, hopefully something for everyone. "If There Were No Poetry" concludes the collection and poses the question, Who would we be and how would we be if there were no poetry?