Poetry books are generally ignored, unless the poet is famous. By its very nature, poetry is tuned to emotions and feelings in a person. Very often, such feelings are transitionary, and they leave the reader without any residual meaning in their mind, after the reading is done. In this book, Short Poems, Long Tales, the poet conveys a message that is perhaps a bit more lasting. In a way it tries to modify the understanding process and make it more relevant to living in the 21st century. As we embark on a global culture, it's important to leave narrow views behind and look ahead. Discriminating people, other than ourselves, is very hurtful - more to them immediately and later in time to ourselves. Another parameter addressed is to gauge the actual passage of time. How it leaves us where we are, while it moves on by itself. Universal human instincts is another issue to be concerned about when sharing a heartfelt message. If not, it generally leads people to jump to false accusations when confronting others. The temper proposed by the author in this book is to deal with each other in the concept of live-and-let-live. Even if a message conveyed to us goes against our grain of thinking, it's better to let it rest for a while before pronouncing immediate opposition. The entire learning from this book of poetry is to enable a more thoughtful and understanding person, in a mildly witty and refreshing way.

Poetry books are generally ignored, unless the poet is famous. By its very nature, poetry is tuned to emotions and feelings in a person. Very often, such feelings are transitionary, and after emotionally moving a reader, poems often leave them without a residual meaning in their mind. In this book, Short Poems, Long Tales, the poet conveys a message that is perhaps a bit more lasting. It modifies the understanding process and makes it more relevant to living in the 21st century, where we have a global culture. Now, it is important to leave narrow views behind and look ahead. Discriminating people, are very hurtful, but will be with us for the foreseeable future. We must learn how to live with them. Poems in this book help with that. A second parameter they address is gauging the actual passage of time. Most people are not mindful of this and live their lives without realizing how time passed away. The third aspect is universal human instincts that are common to people around the globe. The mood proposed by the author in this book is to learn to deal with each other in the concept of live-and-let-live. This is in the theme of Sufi poems. The entire learning from this book of poetry is to enable a more thoughtful and understanding person. At times, some poems are mildly witty in a refreshing way.

The curious ironies of retirement. The unspoken pains of false love. The bad side of doing good. In his illuminating collection of short, yet deeply reflective poems, Rashid Osmani makes magnificent use of the Sufi tradition of verse to cast shimmering new light on modern-day emotions with poems of rich insight and powerful resonance that belie the brevity of their words. Word Posse: Sufi-Style Short Poems to Amuse & Entertain is the poet's snapshot of thoughts and feelings about issues most of us face in a modern, connected world. Thought-provoking and frequently light-hearted, this deeply personal, refreshingly original collection explores common life experiences, from romantic disillusionment to political perplexity. Many of the poems are anchored in Sufism, an eclectic interpretation of Islam with emphasis on humanity and tolerance. Osmani, an engineer by profession, was drawn to writing poetry after a near-death experience. His short poems are particularly suitable for today's world of abbreviated attention spans. In this collection, forty of his works are organized into six categories: Light-Hearted; Love - Real and Fake; Human Nature; Political; Heart and Soul; and Philosophical. In the first poem, "Word Posse," from which the collection draws its title, the speaker describes how words are organized similar to a posse, in order to track down elusive thoughts and imprison them in poems. The poem "4th Quarter" takes a more somber tone, as it was inspired by a nursing home visit. "Petrified Pet" is in a lighter vein, as the speaker views his own body as a pet. Explanatory notes are provided for each of the poems as well as enlightening comments posted by other poets. Written in a unique freestyle form, with little emphasis on rhyming, the poems encourage readers to think a little more deeply about the chosen subjects. Anyone searching for greater meaning in their lives will find much to ponder in these soul-stirring works.

A new selection for the NEA’s Big Read program A compact selection of Poe’s greatest stories and poems, chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts for their Big Read program. This selection of eleven stories and seven poems contains such famously chilling masterpieces of the storyteller’s art as “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and such unforgettable poems as “The Raven,” “The Bells,” and “Annabel Lee.” Poe is widely credited with pioneering the detective story, represented here by “The Purloined Letter,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Also included is his essay “The Philosophy of Composition,” in which he lays out his theory of how good writers write, describing how he constructed “The Raven” as an example.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rhett Miller teams up with Caldecott Medalist and bestselling artist Dan Santat in a riotous collection of irreverent poems for modern families. In the tradition of Shel Silverstein, these poems bring a fresh new twist to the classic dilemmas of childhood as well as a perceptive eye to the foibles of modern family life. Full of clever wordplay and bright visual gags--and toilet humor to spare--these twenty-three rhyming poems make for an ideal read-aloud experience. Taking on the subjects of a bullying baseball coach and annoying little brothers with equally sly humor, renowned lyricist Rhett Miller's clever verses will have the whole family cackling.

From a "born storyteller" (Seattle Times), this playful and moving bestselling book of essays invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of everyday life. When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the twenty-first century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon. At a moment when the world can sometimes feel darker than ever, Doyle's writing, which constantly evokes the humor and even bliss that life affords, is a balm. His essays manage to find, again and again, exquisite beauty in the quotidian, whether it's the awe of a child the first time she hears a river, or a husband's whiskers that a grieving widow misses seeing in her sink every morning. Through Doyle's eyes, nothing is dull. David James Duncan sums up Doyle's sensibilities best in his introduction to the collection: "Brian Doyle lived the pleasure of bearing daily witness to quiet glories hidden in people, places and creatures of little or no size, renown, or commercial value, and he brought inimitably playful or soaring or aching or heartfelt language to his tellings." A life's work, One Long River of Song invites readers to experience joy and wonder in ordinary moments that become, under Doyle's rapturous and exuberant gaze, extraordinary.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world.