Sounds of Distant Drums.. a book of Poetry.

By Alfred Hutchison.

I originally posted this in 2013, July I think, and today while breezing through the book I came once more on this poem… one of my favourites… which reminded me of this post that had me writing poetry…. well I call it poetry… thought I’d share it once more… below is the original post…

I received a gift from a good friend of mine, a book of poems… This was so un-expected… but so appreciated… I immediately rushed into the nearest Coffee shop and started to read… when I got home, I sat and this poem just flowed out of me, (remember I’m no poet, but love poetry) .. here is what I sent Alf. ….

Oh Lord I receive a gift today,

Sent to me from far away,

A gift, that has me inspired,

To emulate the desire inside.

 

A gift from a friend who God has blessed,

With the words of the poet inside his head,

A man of God who remembers his past,

A true man whom can’t be taken to task.

 

Is it a gift that one would expect?

Which I went with enthusiasm to collect,

A surprise when opened I had to read,

A book from Alf it was indeed.

 

Could anyone impede the need?

To quickly open this book and read,

The wise words of wisdom spread,

Not written in pen or pencil lead.

 

A coffee shop across the road,

To which I entered with ordered code,

A mug of coffee, not good for me,

Instead of ordering a pot of tea.

 

I sat and read with head bent down,

Upon the words of a friend I’d found,

The words that stirred deep memories,

Of long age pasts sweet journeys.

 

The words so profound,

That it did compound,

The feelings I past felt,

That Alf has been dealt,

A gift from God to which he is blessed,

That has stirred the past in me refreshed,

The poems filled with rhythm and rhyme,

That in themselves talk of Heaven Divine.

 

Alf replied to my thanks with more words that touched my heart…

“See how easy it is Rob ? Accept the book as a gift for all the unending encouragement you have given me … May God richly bless you my friend …Now you have a taste for poetry lets see more ….”

Oh how I wish I could… but with his permission I add one of his poems here, with a few photos of mine that just sprang to mind when I read the poem… (no animals were hurt or damaged in anyway in this poem or the photos depicting the poem….)

Called……. “A Lion Roars”

           Come with me, hold tight my hand,

           Whilst I show you my beloved land,

           Africa’s blood washes through my veins,

      From Bushveld glades to savannah plains.

           Have you ever heard a lion roar?

           Been close enough to touch his paw,

          Stared eye to eye, smelled his breath,

              Observed razor teeth of instant death,

  

 

           

                    And then that roar… that numbing sound

                    Send tremors through the very ground.

               A lightening swipe of five sharp claws;

               No video this, you can’t press pause.

 

                   Reality life, your minutes numbered,

                   Certain death … your life encumbered;

                   But that day twas not meant to be,

                   God’s heaven had no need of me.

 

                  A shot rang out … a sound so sweet,

                  The King of beasts lay at my feet,

                  This was no trophy, no great prize.

                      My life, his death … no compromise.

Author Alf Hutchison.. with permission.

Alf’s Book is available from hutch@yebo.co.za

and if on Face Book go to https://www.facebook.com/soundsofdistantdrums

and like his page and read more of his work… brilliant….

To publish or not to publish.. that is the question..

Apologies to William Shakespeare… hell if he can read this then good luck to him… Once more I have reached a cross road in my book scenario…

When I began with the book it was to share stories from my growing up, something my family felt I should do for future generations of our family… this was never done to be published, but my writing took on a life of its own and the more Linda read the more she encouraged me to write with the intention to publish….

I wrote and re wrote and then did so all over again. My English was terrible and this I felt would be the deciding factor “To publish or not to publish”.

The Good Lord put Anneli’s blog on my email list and after quite the while I had found an Editor… I think she regretted taking on this book in the beginning.. her question to me “do I understand the passive word or passive verb”, brought tears to my eyes and my answer being “what are you talking about?” I think brought tears to hers. But it gave her a better understanding of my terrible knowledge of the English language… However with perseverance she turned my book into something I love..

Then came the questions from others “Are you going to include photos?” My answer in the positive was made without even thinking it through…

A book with photos is going to cost between $ 69 and $ 89… this puts it out of the market before we begin.. yet without photos, or maybe just pencil sketches we come to a publishing cost between $5 and $8… far more reasonable… but would people be interested in my story, my escapades and experiences? I’m not sure of the answer to that….

So do I publish this as a book and eBook and follow with a coffee table photo book later, is now what I have to decide… a coffee table book of my photos is a lot cheaper when not including 300 pages of my stories… What to do, what to do, is where I find myself… could this giraffe give me the answer?

Maybe I should hop on a plane and go somewhere … maybe I’ll find an answer…

Until I come to a decision … I will continue to bang my head against the wall….

Look out you’re being watched !!

While looking for answers to my publishing problems it was surprising the amount of emails I received from those that read my blog, yet never click like or comment. Yet they saw fit to come to my aid with all kinds of suggestions, for which I am grateful…

So when we blog we must remember there are a lot of people out there that are quietly watching and reading what we share… I find that wonderful… so I went in search of photos that would fit the bill of watching and here they are…

and then there’s the one that watches me the most…