"Stolen Moments", was written specifically for my friends Dennis and Holly. Holly had found at a garage sale a rather ugly four foot statue of a young couple in an embrace. It had been painted over numerous times. The owner told Holly she could have it just for hauling it away. Then both she and Dennis began their creative work on the statue. It was transformed into a beautiful work. Holly stripped and repainted it, Dennis constructed to scale a lean-to shelter, with "rain" falling over and from the roof. He placed a water pond in front of the shelter as a natural setting for the piece. Holly named it, Stolen Moments, and planned the piece as a Christmas present for her mother. The title represented a time in her family's life when a stranger appeared, befriended the family, stayed in their home for a while, brought comfort and a settleness, and then left. Although this person never returned to Holly's childhood home, the family maintained contact with him until his death some several months prior to the incident described here. "Stolen Moments", then are those places in time where two might share special moments but are unable, for whatever reason, to extend them into something more. This poem was written for Holly's mother to join with the statue to represent those moments. It was a pleasure to write this poem for my friends, Dennis and Holly.

"Where Stood Love", is a poem I wrote in a burst of creativity while reading the works of others on an internet news group specifically set aside for poetry. It is generated from, I suspect, my own experiences in relationships although I can not discern from which ones.

"The Tenderness of You", While watching a 20/20 ABC broadcast on the eve of this composition, a story of a concert pianist who had suffered from arthritis was unfolding. I was struck by his passion for his art, his endurance to the pain and yet the dedication to his artistry. The words tenderness entered my thoughts and, thus, was created this piece. It has nothing to do with the pianist but with the emotion of tenderness perhaps lost and then rediscovered in love's intimate moments. This piece is one of my more "syrupy" compositions...I think.

"This is Love I Know", is much different than the original composition I put together. Just prior to scheduled surgery on my ear, I wrote the original poem a day or two in advance and then sent it out across the internet to those I have in the past shared my work with. The surgery was canceled, I came home looked at the original and was struck by how fragmented, incomplete and utterly sophomoric it was. I immediately started a rewrite taking several days to finalize this version. It is not one that I think is good, but it does I think have a few good lines it in, and probably speaks to a love that all would like to create. I have not found such a "blissful" state as the one described, but then again, it never hurts to set the sights, and try the soaring flights! Incidentally, an individual reading it on the internet board where the poem had been posted asked permission to use it at the grandparents wedding anniversary...of course I gave permission! Since originally writing this, I have created a second version of this poem in honor of Ronnee and her husband Steve who celebrated their thirty-fifth anniversary  in July

'98.

June 28, 2006: In addition to the regular format for web pages, I am trying something different for this poem. I am adding a "Windows Media Video" on the contents page.  It is an introductory piece quoting several of the lines from the poem and will last less than 32 seconds.  If it does not work out well I will remove it from the web site