(Taken from the cover note)
The 125 poems in this collection, the sequel to Things I Cannot Change (1993) were written between 1989 and 1997. They are all three stanza poems, relying less frequently upon the use of rhyme… the Brugean poet writes with feeling about the men and women who are close to him, and the eternal Buddha in whom he takes his refuge.
The front cover is by Horst De Blaere.
MIKE
(d. Sachsenhausen, 1945)
Because I had no father
I could turn to in distress
My moral education
Was a bloody awful mess.
Oh yes, I read the Bible,
Knew who begat who, and how,
But all that hocus-pocus
Doesn’t help me here and now.
Who were you really, Michael?
Are you still but thirty-nine?
Would you be sorry to hear
I never drink beer or wine?