I never really liked poetry since being introduced to it at school. The fact that I ended up publishing a book of poetry therefore raises a rather obvious question. What happened?

The reason so much poetry left me rather unimpressed was that, in many cases, it did not give me a message that made sense to me. Modern poetry was worse because I felt as if the poet was going out of his/her way to make it complicated, and totally lost me in the creative use of multiple adjectives and adverbs! This is not intended to criticize any poet or poetic style, but more to simply explain my perspective when I am presented with poetic verse (and any other writings).

When I read anything, part of me wants to understand the message within the piece, and another part of me wants to understand a little about the writer. In an apparent contradiction to some of the above, I have written a number of songs (poems with melodies!) over the years and, with a lot of rearranging in order to give them a life without a melody, eventually introduced them here a few years ago. The result was “Just Thinking”, and a blogging friend Aadhira recently created a “Just Thinking” Post which offered her review of the book.

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April 11, 2019

A Book by one of the dear friends, I got from blogosphere, Mr. Colin Chappell. This book is a collection of poems by him and few others.

The little blurb on the cover exactly summarises about the book, while the image on the cover sets the tone for the book.. Pleasing to view, Comforting the soul and a beauty to cherish!

The book is a very short read, if you want to finish in a single siting. But it is best enjoyed, when read one at a time and pondered upon, as each of them provokes something inside.. To emote, to inspire, to laugh and sometimes create a new post!

The book is divided into Five Parts.
Part 1 -My friend Ray: It talks about thoughts that influenced the life of Ray just as Ray influenced the life of Colin!
Part 2 – Relationships: Every reader could find some connection with at least one of them. This section is a fine example of how our personal life impacts turn out to beautiful creation.
Part 3 – Life’s Journey: The largest collection of poetry falls within this section and the prelude to the section explains / justifies why very aptly!
Part 4 – Tina and other stories: This is where stories unfold as poetry. And the stories are rich!
Part 5 – Just thinking: This is a collection of random poetry, which are not falling into any of the previous categories..

When I received the book and skimmed through the titles, indeed I was drawn to the “Ripples” and I was astounded for that conveyed my exactly thoughts on why I named my blog as Ripples.

And the poem that became a favorite of mine in the collection is, “The Old man’s lament“. For this one was beautifully inspiring to start living the life right now, or lament later. It is so practical and doesn’t exclude the base of our necessity to be a social being as well as the necessity to live for one self!

There are few written by his daughter, Melanie-Anne Chappell, Dr. Phoebe Chi and Carolyn Shelton. There is some invisible thread tying those poems into the book, very much in sync with the tone and theme of the book. Especially “The Toque (Knitted Hat)! “ by Melanie and “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more” by Dr. Phoebe had a lasting impression on me.

There is an important feature laced all through the book. The poems (not all) starts with a short (or sometimes a page-length) note. It is more like setting the stage for the show. For those notes play a vital role in setting the context. As it eases understanding them on the first read and doesn’t leave any space for misinterpretation by reader, from the perspective of writer.

I have always pondered whether my writing is ever understood, the way I conceived it?! And this seems to be the best solution for that. I might be trying it in the future! Thanks for the idea!

As for acknowledgements, which was at the end of the book, I read it last and was most surprised! For Colin has included me in it, as my Header Image in the past was an inspiration for his poem, Ripples.

The joy of seeing my name in print, along with a very clear understanding of the idea behind it was one of the personal favorite moment of my life. Thank you Colin, for the understanding and the joy you created in me!

The book is a real treasure to ponder upon various facets of life and provides a good meal to the hungry of the mind!

Do grab your copy of the book is available here!

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000032944229/Colin-Chappell-Just-Thinking

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A link to Aadhira’s blog Post is below:

https://aadhira.me/2019/04/11/just-thinking/