Book One Contents

1       Cairns of Sussex Chalk

A poem bout this book

2       They That Don’t Belong 

A poem about being a traveler

3       Tomorrow’s Past Life 

A poem about missing being a traveler

4       Viboras y Osos

A story from Peru about a rattle snake on the Inca Trail

5       Life Well Lived

A poem about living life to the fullest

6       Follow Me, Follow You

A story from Rhodesia about buffalo hunt …. but who was hunting who

7       Travelers Upon the Road

A poem about paths crossing

8       Switch to Chanel 12. Over

A story from The British Virgin Islands about bare boat anchor panky

9       A Standard Issue Rifle

A poem about a gun being not just a gun

10    The Lambing Shed

A story from England about ovine midwifery ….. or should that be midhusbandry?

11     Judgment of Life

A poem about living the best you can

12     Canadian Subarctic Survival

A story from America about something that didn’t really happen in Canada

13     The Mate

A poem about a tough sailor

14     The Merc

A story from Rhodesia about misperceptions

15     Old Dicky Dog is Dead

A poem about an old departed shipmate

16     The Navigator

A story from Portugal about how even shipwrecks can be positive ….. sometimes)

17     Chapters of Life

A poem about moving on and looking back

18        Riding Shotgun

A story from Rhodesia about becoming a veteran with a veterinarian

19        More Noble than the Dawn

A poem about earning your place in tomorrow

20        2009 Thoughts

A story from Canada about contemplating where humankind is heading

21        Preparation

A poem about why

22       Among Incan Ghosts

A story from Peru about dawn at Machu Picchu

23       Of Thylkes and Frumps

A poem about being too quick to judge

24        Disrespecting Cultures

A story from Peru about being up the Amazon without a paddle

25        Learn Well From the Lessons I Can Give

A poem about making mistakes

26       Grandfather Teachings

A story from Canada about Native wisdom vis-a-vis invasive species

27        Rights of Passage

A poem about becoming a man

28        Dogwood and Dogma

A story from Canada about catching dreams with the expert

29        The Last Portage

A poem about reluctantly accepting change

30        Whale of a Time

A story from St Barths about what the charter guests didn’t see

31        The Memory of Before

A poem about nostalgia

32        What Really Needs to Happen 

A story from Gibraltar about how sometimes the winds of fate do blow in the right direction

33        The Selkie Son

A poem about a mythical being

34      Uninvited Callers

A story from St Lucia and Florida about a tale of two searchlights

35        Greeting the New Day

A poem about honouring our place within the Universe

36      The Not So Vicious Bugger

A story from England about youthful imagination

37        River of My Sussex Childhood

A poem about memories and lessons

38      A Mid-Winter’s Tale

A story from England and Canada about a tradition Yule want to remember

39        This City

A poem about living where you don’t belong

40       Charity and Inner Conflict

A story from India whether to give, or not to give….that is the question

41        Tavern Not Far From the Shore

A poem about sea folk ashore

42       Delivery Delayed

A story from The Bahamas about an ill-fated voyage in pirated waters

43        Wake Well This Day

A poem about living the day

44        Voice in the Storm

A story from The British Virgin Islands about coming together when all else is being torn apart

45        Okavango

A poem about a place yet unseen

46        Rugby, Diving and Playing Cards

A story from Gibraltar about the best game that was never played

47        In Search of Home

A poem about being rootless

48        Sardines and Dirty Laundry

A story from Morocco about happy hippie days

49        Epitaph

A poem about wasted life

50        Parrots, Elves and Wonder

A story from The British Virgin Islands about how after the storm comes the…..Elves???  (This story was re-written and illustrated to become the first book in the children’s environmental series “The Earth Elves”)

Afterword: An ordinary Man

A poem about being no-one special