The Things Old Men Must Do

[Old men must say]

Old men must say
I love you and
I’m proud of you –
often and with contrition –
to make up for the times
they could not do so
while the entire universe
screamed, “Say it, you fool.
Say it now!”

– September 2024

My book – SLOW RIVERS, Poems From My Sixties, ISBN 979-8-218-43822-7 – has been published. I encourage ordering SLOW RIVERS through your neighborhood independent bookstore, believing as I do that bookstores can help us maintain (regain?) some semblance of a healthy national psyche. Bookshop.org is a site which allows you to purchase online while also benefitting independent bookstores.

I would not presume to add to the familiar words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, verses which are among the most beautiful poetry in the Bible. But those words – beginning with “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” – soothe me when I am tempted to scold myself for not writing more new poems. There is a time for writing poems but there is also a time for selling books of poetry, and the latter has occupied much of my time recently. I am the son of a salesman and have often been a salesman: of storage space, wine, appliances and real estate. I enjoy both writing and selling my poems. To every thing there is a season.

I would call your attention to two events taking place this week in support of SLOW RIVERS.

1.) A short Facebook Live event on Thursday, 9/19 at 7:00 pm EDT. I will discuss the story behind the book and read a few poems If you are interested in attending, I suggest you send me a friend request on FB, which I will accept and then send you an invitation to the event. I am on FB as simply ‘Joe Neely’. You can also sign on just before the event and try this link: https://www.facebook.com/share/fa9jK7rDBcmkeyNj/

2.) A book-launch and reading at Stirling Books & Brew, 119 N Superior St, Albion, MI on Sunday, 9/22 at 3:00 pm EDT. This event is free and open to all, and books will be available for purchase.

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A New Poem Every So Often.
(No regular schedule right now; life gets in the way.)

Joseph Neely, all rights to original material reserved.