Idle Thoughts E-Book

Mitchell Isaac Friedman

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The poems in this collection were written over the course of twenty-seven years. They represent the ramblings and obsessions of an otherwise unoccupied mind.

Leseprobe

Mitchell Isaac Friedman

Idle Thoughts

For Ilene, Danielle, and Jordan Friedman. In loving memory of my parents William and Lillian Friedman. BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Author's Note

Why Idle Thoughts?

An explanation, of sorts, can be found in this collection's first piece, “Idle Thoughts.” My mind tends to wander frequently. When I am driving, exercising, at meetings an idea will pop into my head. If I have paper (or a napkin; anything I can write on and fold up and put into my pocket), I jot them down so that I can work them over, and produce a poem or short story—sometimes even an essay. How good these are, I will leave for the reader to judge.

All too often, I have no means to jot the ideas down, and they disappear into the creative void, before I have a chance to write that first draft.

Often, when the ideas pop into my head I also have a vague idea of the form they will take. “Summer Images,” for instance, came into my head while sitting on the deck of cottage where my family vacationed, watching the breeze stir the tops of the trees around us. I immediately went into the cottage and sat at my computer to compose “Summer Images.” As soon as I read through the rough draft I decided to revise, and experiment with haiku—I had never attempted to write one before. How well I succeeded, again, I leave to the judgment of the reader.

The “Meditation” poems are all thoughts that drifted through my mind as I was practicing my quiet mind meditations. The haiku form, again, seemed the most appropriate for short meditative poems. Which is why most—with the exception of “Meditation Number 1”—are written in that form.

I find I enjoy writing in the haiku form most. The form is a good fit for the passing thoughts of the “Meditation” poems, as well as for more whimsical pieces, such as “Coffee.”

Two of the poems in this work, “Icy Grip” and “Halcyon Days,” were originally written for two of the short stories that I am working on for another book. In those stories they are attributed to the main characters.

Some of the poems in this collection are earlier pieces. They were mostly written for a poetry workshop course that I took while an undergraduate at Queens College in New York City. Some were written when my mind wandered during my graduate courses at the same institution. In any case, they also had their genesis in the manner described above. They were responses to assignments, but the inspiration came when my mind was idle, or bored.

So, why Idle Thoughts. Simply because these poems, in one way or another, are the serendipitous products of an idle mind.

Idle Thoughts

The come with boredom--

transient, irrelevant--

these, my idle thoughts.

At weird times they come;

when I've been reading a while,

breaking attention.

In boring meetings

my mind begins to wander.

Idle thoughts appear

Nothing but for me

to take pen and write them down,

these, my idle thoughts.

Meditation 1

Grant me, oh Lord,

Inner peace, serenity, and wisdom.

Grant me inner peace, oh Lord,

That I may accept

My successes,

Along with my failures.

Grant me serenity, oh Lord,

That I may remain calm

In times of turmoil,

When things do not

Turn out as I would have them.

Teach me wisdom, oh Lord,

That I may cherish

All who have touched,

Do touch, and

Will touch my life

Each and every day of my life,

Grant that I may achieve some worthy deed

To give my life purpose.

Grant me, oh Lord,

Inner peace, serenity, and wisdom.