A Second Helping
POETRY
ISBN 978-0-9842449-6-6
5-1/2 x 8-1/2 160 Pages
$12.00
November, 2010
A SECOND HELPING - LIFE IN REVIEW
by Douglas C. Vest
A poetic legacy of life in review - from boyhood years to entering the mystery of the future.
A Message from the Author
A Second Helping began as intentional life review, as my wife and I contemplated moving into a retirement residence. Quite to my surprise, the first several months of my next writing effort seemed largely confined to reflections on my childhood. I came to generalize the thought that the memorable things in life are often those which are experienced for the first time or so. Fresh -- shall I say childlike? -- curiosity has begotten many never-to-be-forgotten events. And there have been many moments which I was convinced of being welcomed into a private world which was little known to others. The ‘wisdom’ of teen-age years asserted itself, as did the personal concerns of parenthood, with the tendency to impart my custodial concerns to others.
As I released this copy to my publisher, I reflected on the question: “What comes next?” And I turn from time to time to the title of one of my earlier books, Entering the Mystery. The future is a realm of mystery – so here we go!
POEMS FEATURED IN THIS BOOK
| $2 Bill A Penny for Your Thoughts Across the Road Adverting the Mind Advertising Amaryllis At the Center Attraction Big Boys Don’t Cry Butterfly Change of Life Chemistry Citizen Amphibians Clothesline Come On, It’s Just War! Conveniences Coping Dominion Gone Amok Edged In Ego Trip Enlightenment Excelsior Failed Experiment First Day First Impressions Endure Flint Knapping Gathering the Nest God of the Chaos Got Religion? Graven Images Great Idea! Grits Ground-up Freedom Harvest Moonlighting Haying Hearing Aids Here It Comes Again! Hide-out Home Block Hooped I and Them Island Isthmus Let Us Rejoice! Let’s Not Talk About It! Letting Go Life Review Living Records Looking Back Love Grows May Jesus Come to Church? Memorable |
Mingled Pleasure Mister Fix-it Mobius Strip Mystery Mystified Nature’s Peek-a-boo Now, Long Ago Ostriches Paired Paradox Passing Grade Passing Understanding Pealed Away from Chores Play – Fully Play It Again – for Real, Sam! Porch Swing Porches Remember When? Revving Up Fast Sans Chapel Shadow Shinny Showboat Side Effects Something Missing Statement in Song Still Lacking Perfection Subject Objectified Suggestions, Anybody? Summertime Swinging Bridge Synergy Teach Me to Pray Techno-messiah Tee Shirts The Corner Thinking Free Tomato Skin Town Limits Transcending Transcendence Tree Friends Two Hands Unswaddled Waking Water’s Edge We Never Really Know Weed Etiquette Well, Can You Imagine? What Do I Mean? What’s Happening? Who Says? Wholly Island Wild West |
I love Doug Vest’s poems, and read them again and again. They help
ground me, reminding me where my true center is. -- Louise Fox
Almost every night before I go to sleep, I read one of Doug Vest’s poems.
They help ease me into a restful sleep and a good waking the next morning.
-- Ann Fasnacht
Although I am a long-time meditator and lover of nature,
Doug’s poetic insights are always freshly revealing for me. -- David Caffrey
Doug’s poems are so refreshing. I enjoy reading a poem or two
at a time, slowly. It puts a smile on my face – and it makes me think.
-- Beth Jahncke
These are approachable poems! -- Joshua Galloway
