The poems in this short book reflect many of my feelings as I traversed the year after my wife's death. Writing them helped me cope. The first group of poems, what I include under the title "Do Trees Wear Watches," are in the form of "modern haiku."  For the most part, they are written in the haiku form of three non-rhyming lines, with five syllables in the first and third line and seven syllables in the second. All poetry has as its purpose the evocation of emotional states, and these are no exception to that goal. Traditional haiku do this through having each line thematically unconnected to the others, yet, as a whole, evoking a particular image and/or feeling. That is, there is no attempt to tell a story, but only to evoke a mood.  "Modern" haiku have the same goal of evoking a mood, but do not necessarily follow the strict syllable format of five, seven, five. (For an easily accessible resource discussing the modern and traditional haiku form, see: http://www.ahapoetry. com/haiku.htm),) The "haiku" I have written take even more liberties with the form and, in many instances, link the content of each line together to form an image as well as to evoke a mood. Those who admire the purity of the true haiku form will probably be disappointed with what I have written. Remember, though, that my purpose for writing these poems was to deal with flood of feelings that followed my awakening after my wife's death and not to write poetry for the sake of writing great poetry. I'm not even sure anymore what great poetry is, as my perspective on life has changed since I was an undergraduate English and history major.

The poems that follow the haiku are in a longer form, but still deal with some of the same feelings. They just seemed to need more space to explore and express ideas and feelings more fully.

At the request of my friend and because it seems interesting to me as an exercise., I have included a chapter in this short book that contains my own reflections on each of the poems.  After writing the haiku for several months, I looked at them and found that, for me , they seemed to fall naturally into four categories. These "natural" categories are, of course, highly subjective, as are the poems themselves, so what you see are the groupings that seem right to me.

The groups int he section, "Do Trees Wear Watches" are as follows:

Estella Jane Cycle.  As a child Dot didn't like her middle name of Estella, and she decided that she'd become Jane. So she became Dorothy Jane Weaver. We sometimes made a game of calling her by all her names together: Dorothy Estella Jane Weaver Blaich Morgan. (She had been married and divorced prior to my meeting her.) I happen to like the name Estella and I loved that she renamed herself, so I often though of her as Estella Jane, but, like nearly everyone, I called her Dot. These poems are all connected directly to her in some way.

Awakening Cycle. These poems reflect my attempt to reconnect with my ability to love again and to envisioned life shared with another person after having spent nearly forty-four years with a woman that I loved and who was the center of my life. They address my sheer joy at finding that capacity to be in love when I thought I might  never feel it again. They also address my confusion at trying to understand another person without confusing them with someone I had known so well for so long. They show that I wasn't well-prepared to deal with these feelings and that I had moments of feeling loved, rejected, angry and blaming. They showed some attempt to come to peace with the limits of the relationship and to respect the feelings and needs of the other person, accepting that one cannot impose one's will on others if one truly cares for them. I hope I didn't make too big a jerk of myself.

Earth and Child Cycle. In my best moments I can connect with the innocence of childhood, including the wonder, the pain and the joys of discovery. These poems speak to me of the resilience of the human species and the prospect that the future of the world is potentially renewed in the life of each child. They reflect my hope for the future.

Counselor Cycle. I spent forty-five years as a counselor/psychologist working primarily in university counseling centers. Amidst all of the pain and anguish I heard in the stories of the people I counseled, I also found an incredible drive toward health and happiness in those same people. Stories that would seem to be the stuff of some of the worst literary tragedies and the most awful horror movies were relatively commonplace in the lives of many of these young people. Yet they overcame so much and often had very productive lives. Most were also very grateful that someone took the time to listen to them, and counseling often gave them the tools and change of mindset that let them move beyond the struggles that were holding them back. These poems are based on what I actually experienced while working with some of these young people. None of these poems refer to one specific person. Each represents experiences shared by several--even dozens--of these young people.

The remaining poems, the longer ones, are just another part of my process of reclaiming a place among the living and finding a new place to focus my energy.

It should be obvious, after reading all of the poetry, that they don't form a coherent whole. They don't tell a definitive story, and there are no conclusions. They are only tangible bits of an ongoing process. However, they were very important part of that process for me and allowed me to discover the feelings that were inside and bring them to light. I'm grateful that the words were there when I needed them.

So now to the poems....                 Do Trees Wear Watches?