The photographs in these books are not ‘direct’ images. Rather, they are images taken off of either the reflected surface of water, or off of a reflected distressed metal surface that I use. The camera is not high end, the distressed metal surface I use is not highly polished, and the surface of water is always in motion primarily due to wind, insects, birds. The resulting photographs often convey a sense of movement, a softness, and when successful provide a unique painterly impression.

The following is a poem I wrote to try and express what I see and feel about my water reflection photographs:

Waters’ Colors: Reflections, Impressions

They reach out to me from beneath, to reveal their wonders, to share their secrets, calling out to my imagination.

They dance on the waters’ surface, shimmering in magnificent choreography — the trees, the sky, the grasses, the flowers.

Showing off what they are and what they might be, wanting to be noticed, remembered.
I am compelled to watch, to record, to translate into what it is of them that I see.
The sun, the day, bonds with each leaf, each petal, transforming the seemingly plain and obscured into dazzling multi-colored creations.
The unseen wind, the light, shatter the surface into millions of new pieces, constantly transforming, creating new and spectacular versions every second.
The surface is always, always, in motion with help from a breeze, fish, insects, that create a brilliance of ever changing form and color, a sense of unpredictable movement, a spontaneity, inventiveness.
It is alive, it is hopeful, a never ending wonder.
I feel compelled to try and capture some of what it has to tell me, to observe, to help it speak, to incorporate my impression of what I see.
Like so much of life’s great beauty, it is there coyly hiding in plain sight, waiting to share.

I came to writing later in life without much experience in either reading or writing poetry. At that time there were things I felt I wanted to say and this form seemed to be the right fit for me. While I don’t recall the exact quote from Samuel Johnson, the sense of it was that there are as many different types of poetry as there are poets. That gave me confidence to just go ahead and write without regard to the known formalities of poetry.

The topics includes aging, death, family, love, identity, hope, faith, social commentary, memory, as well as a variety of other musings. My intention, my hoped for result, is reflected in this excerpt from my poem, ‘A Moment Of Intimate Relevance’:

‘But can’t poetry just be about creating a moment of intimate relevance about an idea, an emotion, a person, a belief, a memory, something between a writer and a reader?

You know, an artistic communication using an ordered collection of words that
offers the possibility of meaning, recognition, felt personal value for both the
giver and receiver.

Not to be judged, but something that can be appreciated, understood, a human
moment or experience that makes some positive difference in a life’