A Note from the Author

The book title is derived from images in two poems therein,  “Reflection” and “Seventy”.  It seemed an appropriate metaphor for the sunlight of consciousness interacting with the mysterious waters of the subconscious—the sensate world with an intuitive mind.

The poems, stories, and reflections are presented in alphabetical order by title rather than by theme, style, or date.  As to style, I didn’t have a set one. How the items appear on the page depends on what felt right in terms of subject matter and flow at the time.  I tried to find the music in words and phrases using alliteration and rhythm when it did not constrain or constrict the thoughts I wanted to convey or force an awkward expression.

Occasionally I used parentheses to elicit more than one connotation for a thought: e.g., t(here), s(now), e(yes). While this is interesting when reading silently, it does present a challenge when reading aloud as one must choose which word to read, and often the choice gives a subtly different cast to the meaning one takes away.

I initially followed the traditional three-line, 5-7-5 syllables-per-line format for the haiku.  I tried to further concentrate the images using 3-5-3 syllable lines.  I decided to present both forms since the condensate sometimes invokes a slightly different feeling.

Under the category “Scene and Unseen” are captions I wrote for some photographs taken by my good friend F. Lee Cornelison—“scene” referring to the visual image in the photograph and “unseen” for what may be visible or inferred only in the mind’s eye.  I included them in the book as an exercise in imagination. Though the photographs that inspired the captions are not in the book, you can view them under the “SCENE and UNSEEN tab on this website.

The themes that run through the poetry and reflections deal with nature, relationship, love, death, and being here in the midst of all that is.  I have also included a fantasy, and some anecdotal stories taken from my life experiences.