Changes to the Book

The book that was printed back in 2000 did not include "A Mountain's Sojourn" and included  three poems that are not in the current book.  The poems that were taken out, 'Am I' - 'Happy Day' - 'Untitled',  seemed to interrupt the theme of Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams.  What I did was write new poems to replace them, 'Kiss' - 'The Art of Love' - 'A Life's Sojourn'.

"A Mountain's Sojourn" was first written while living in Highlands, NC but it wasn't a poem at all.  I was writing - emailing - friends of mine back in SE Florida, mostly people that either I worked with or those that worked for me at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts (you know who you are), some of whom never experienced the changing seasons of the north or some that missed the seasons.  My letters were filled with the descriptions of what I was experiencing.  One day I decided to go back and read all of those messages and found that with a little rephrasing, not much at all actually, I would have a beautiful poem . . .

More later about "A Mountain's Sojourn" in another post.

The Process

As you know, if you have been following this blog – or if you have gone to the first posting and continued reading, the poetry which makes up Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams didn't start out as a book or even a collection of poems.  Scribbles, notes to myself, journal logs, and poems were all written completely separate from one other.  In time, the collection grew and had a similar theme,  it seemed.  I remember when I first started to organize the poems and type, on a typewriter, then – arranging the phrases and lines as if creating a painting – this was in the late 70s.  You see, I had some spare time in between selling cars and I had access to that ‘typewriter’.

So I found myself a portfolio consisting of plastic 8^1/2  by 11 sleeves.  I had my first book.  It remained my only book for years.  While in Highlands many years later and with a computer and keyboard at my fingertips, I created my first formatted copy of the book pretty much without changing a thing.  With access to a commercial grade copier, I spent many a night running page after page, poem after poem, front side – back side and book after book through that copier.  Got my hands on an industrial stapler and produced a number of books, complete with a .jpg cover of puffy white clouds against a blue sky and evidence of a ray of sun or two.  That was in 2000 or 2001; Memories, Thoughts and Dreams was sent out to a few friends and acquaintances and there it sat for another decade.

The process will be continued. . .

Some of the poems you will find in my book:

A MOUNTAIN'S SOJOURN
A LIFE'S SOJOURN

AVAILABLE SOON

WHAT IS BEAUTY?
BEAUTY IS
THE BEAUTY OF YOU
THE FLOWER
YET
SILENCE

. . . and 20 more!

My second review this one from: Clarion Foreword

Guy Bala’s Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams features poems celebrating common aspects of nature and grieving the end of a romantic relationship. Using symbolic elements . . . seasons, flowers, beauty, and the ephemeral— a falling snowflake . . . winds passage—the author recalls love and loss in plainspoken terms. Arranged in an order that charts a transition from tranquility, in “A Mountain’s Sojourn,” . . . to love and then estrangement, in “Alone,” each poem . . . offers such direct revelation. 

Enthusiasm for poetry as self-expression emerges in the author’s introductory note, contextualizes an aesthetic that favors transparency over gradations and employs emotive abstraction. Here, souls embrace and are immortal. Existence is questioned in the absence of the loved one.

                                                                                      Karen Rigby – Clarion ForeWord Reviews

Another Excerpt; this one from "The Kiss"

“THE KISS”

That first kiss so long ago,

That eternal kiss that we shared.

Kiss after kiss after kiss

Never replaced by another.

Years go by and in years gone by

It can’t be remembered,

Something so special.

Lips touching each other’s

Warm and inviting, but so much more . . .

My Book has received its first review

From BlueInk Reviews:

In this revealing self-examination, Guy Bala writes a brief collection of free-verse poems about falling in love, exploring an intimate relationship and then losing that love . . . In addition to movement, Bala’s poetry contains a musicality . . . 

Most of the poems combine into a fairly cohesive chronological story. The book begins with its best work, “A Mountain’s Sojourn,” a beautifully descriptive nature poem.

 Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams presents some of the visceral, unprocessed emotions generated by a passionate romance. Bala’s talent lies in his ability to reveal these emotions openly and make the feelings highly accessible to the reader.  Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams is a testament to selfhood confronting nearly engulfing pain, yet with few regrets for having braved the encounter.

                                                                                                    

BlueInk Reviews

Another excerpt from my book this one from: “SILENCE”

"Silence" is actually the first poem I had ever written.  I think I have the original somewhere; it was written on a red cocktail napkin.

“SILENCE”

We need no words

Our eyes speak

Our touch reveals

In silence we search

In silence we find

Words without meaning

Tenderness beyond our dreams

In silence we discover . . .

PRESS RELEASE for Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams

Sprawling Yet Genuine Poetic Feelings Fill Every Poem in Bala’s Pages

“Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams” compiles profoundly captivating poems interspersed with splendid imagery and expressions of illustrious beauty

TAMPA, FL. - (Release Date TBD) 

 With a heroic honesty of masculine romanticism, Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams reflects one man’s journey through the viscerally chaotic landscape of the heart.

 . . . from the fear of love, to the bloom of new love, to the mourning of lost love, this small and sweet poetic work reflects the epic journey we all take in our affairs of the heart.

           Guy Bala has been called a renaissance man, a bon vivant, an epicurean, and a modern-day bohemian, and rightly so -- for such descriptions fit him well. Inspired by the "unsanctioned poets" of his youth -- Bob Seeger, Journey, Foreigner, Styx, Fleetwood Mac and the Moody Blues, to name a few, Bala recognized early on the critical importance of artistic interpretation.  Although his nascent poetic writing began as scribbles of words, then lines and phrases, scratched on cocktail napkins and the odd scraps of paper, within a few years, a story began to emerge as though it were an inspiring landscape swashed across a canvas. The story became Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams. It is his story, romantic at heart and honest in its masculine fragility.

         Bala thinks in poetic terms and most often describes his experiences in poetic nuances. He believes the act of poetry has an immediate and universal recognition of human emotions. "Words we use every day take on a profound simplicity. They become lyrical and stay in our minds, like music. Indeed, poetry often produces the most emotive sensibilities that strike at our hearts. We share universal experiences, no matter who we are or where we live. Our interpretations are different, and yet the same."           

        In this latest work, Bala reveals a sweet sensitivity that speaks sincerely of love, loss, and loneliness. "I'm not afraid to reflect on my experiences and excavate my thoughts concerning them.  It's how I have come to understand myself."

        Indeed, Memories, Thoughts, and Dreams reflects a cavernous array of feelings that only a tattered heart can speak of, a heroic heart that accepts the pain alongside the pleasures of being in love. Bala has crafted a small gem with this work, revealing the most truthful essence of our existence, and that is to love and be loved in return.