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    Free Up/Tie Down: Volume 9, Collected Poems
    Free Up/Tie Down: Volume 9, Collected Poems
    Free Up/Tie Down: Volume 9, Collected Poems
    Ebook88 pages23 minutes

    Free Up/Tie Down: Volume 9, Collected Poems

    By Burton L. Carlson

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    About this ebook

    This volume is the 9th volume of my Collected Poems. All have been published through Author House. My primary goal is to use understandable language to express my thoughts, my feelings, my hopes. I want description and images to be accurate statements of feelings honest. I find irony helpful.
    I began writing in the late Fifties. My poems may be triggered by a word, a painting, something I have recently seen or experienced; something read; a conversation, a dream, a memory; or an event. My poems are necessarily personal, but I like to think that what I seek to express is not so different from what other humans experience, regardless of race, or nationality.
    Actually, writing poetry is how I deal with emotional crises and stress. Its a refuge where I can get far enough away from daily pressures to determine who I am, to be myself apart from work, family, and events. Many of my poems carry religious themes and overtones. That is not surprising, since my father, my maternal grandfather, and one uncle were ministers...as is my first wife from whom I am divorced.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateFeb 11, 2013
    ISBN9781496936394
    Free Up/Tie Down: Volume 9, Collected Poems
    Author

    Burton L. Carlson

    I was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, to missionary parents. I grew up in Huntington, Indiana; Glendale, Burbank and Turlock, California; and Philomath, Oregon. I received my High School Diploma from Huntington High School in Huntington, Indiana and my undergraduate BA degree in philosophy from Wabash College, also in Indiana. A Sloan Scholarship attendance at Wabash possible. I have two graduate degrees from Yale: a Bachelor of Divinity and a Masters in Religious Studies. My graduate work at Yale was supported by Woodrow Wilson and Danforth Fellowships. A Fulbright Scholarship allowed me to spend a year studying philosophy and theology at Eberhard-Karls Universitaet in Tuebingen, Germany. Professionally, I have worked at all levels of government with a few years spent in the private sector. Most positions have been in the fields of education, employment, and training. I held local positions in New Haven, CT and Boston, MA, statewide positions in Utah and Colorado, and a national position with the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C. I have also been employed federally as Administrative Assistant to a Congressman and in positions with the U.S. Departments of Labor (U.S. Employment Service) and Education (Office of Vocational and Adult Education). I have carried out assignments for the Ford Foundation and/or Department of Labor (Manpower Administration) in San Francisco and Watts, CA; Las Vegas, NV; St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT; Akron and Cleveland OH; Chicago; IL, Jacksonville, FL; Greenville, MS. I am retired and living with my wife, Andrea Wood, in Easton, Virginia.

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      Book preview

      Free Up/Tie Down - Burton L. Carlson

      © Burton L. Carlson All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 2/6/2013

      ISBN: 978-1-4817-0946-0 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4969-3639-4 (ebk)

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      PART I

      MUSE

      WARNING

      PAGAN PRAYER

      NONETHELESS

      BARE BONES

      LESSON

      CURSE

      ABRAHAM

      SARAH

      ISAAC

      INHERITANCE

      BLOTTER

      POLITICS

      WAR DEAD

      MEMORIAL DAY

      BODY POLITIC

      PART II

      CAVALRY EXPECTED

      GODS’ BREATH

      OASIS

      DESERT PLANTS

      DESERT FRUIT

      MINER

      PRICKLY PEAR

      BORN AGAIN

      ABANDONED CHILD

      FRIENDS

      RECREATING THE WORLD

      PART III

      BAREFOOT

      QUIET DOWN

      WOMAN IN A WHEELCHAIR

      THE MIDDLE

      DITCH

      RECIPROCITY

      RELIVING

      ON CALL

      DAILY COMMUNION

      INVITATION

      PART IV

      UNFINISHED

      FEAR OF THE LORD

      STRUGGLE

      NO ANSWER

      MIDNIGHT OF THE SOUL

      ONE-SIDED CONVERSATION

      CONFESSION

      GARDENER’S PRAYER

      GOD’S SILENCE

      SHEPHERD

      SILENCE

      COMFORTER

      JOSEPH

      MARY

      JESUS

      WATCHING WITH JESUS

      PETER

      JUDAS

      PART V

      WILD CRANES

      LIGHTNESS OF BEING

      PENTECOST

      BONES

      SAYING GOODBYE

      EARLY RISER

      WHERE

      JANUARY WIND

      THE YOUNG

      WINDOW

      BOUNDARY

      HOW I WISH TO END

      PRODIGAL

      WISH AND REALITY

      • VOLUME 9 •

      • PART I •

      I am frightened by words that I dare.

      MUSE

      You are not of this earth, Earth Mother;

      you are naked, vulnerable

      and wise.

      I have witnessed your wry sense of humor

      from the School of Hard Knocks,

      I surmise.

      I listen to what you are saying,

      even so, I step out to air.

      Interlocutor, Friend, and Confessor,

      Enjoying the preview?
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