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Mark (an adventure in poetry and photography)

by Leonard J. Monfredo

50 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-1255; ISBN 1-55395-540-4; US$11.50, C$14.50, EUR9.50, £6.60

Questions that all of us are asking, feelings we all share, Mark is an adventure in poetry and photography.

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About the book      About the author      Sample excerpts       Catalogue info

About the Book In the author's words, "This book is a combination of poetry and photography. All poems were written over a period of eight years. All photographs were taken over the same period of time. The book is an external and internal quest. A quest for answers about things I do not agree with or sometimes do not understand. It is also a quest to celebrate my appreciation for places and people that I have come across in my lifetime. It is a combination of moments I have caught on film and emotions written about them. I love to travel. When traveling, the places I visit and the people who live there inspire me. I usually write about a place after I leave it. I try to absorb all a place has to offer. Sometimes I write the poems when I am there because an overwhelming desire to write down my emotions takes over me. There are also poems in this book that question all the emotions that we all feel at different times, Where and Seek are two such poems. Some poems are just for fun and others are to question some things we do and support as human beings. This book also contains several poems that are written for specific people in my life. My father was a big influence on the man I have become. Unfortunately, I lost him while travelling in Europe over seven years ago. In the moment, Thinking of you, and Presence are just three out of several poems I have written for my father. There is also a poem about death, which was a result of losing him and other people I loved during my life. The poem Gone is dedicated to a good friend who died unexpectedly of cancer.

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About the Author "I am thirty years old. Originally from Queens, New York. I own a business that fabricates scenery for television, trade shows, music videos, stores and events. I was an advertising major in college and graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. I have several loves in my life. Women, traveling, exercising, writing, socializing, and photography. I have been lucky enough to have traveled to many places, all of Europe, the Caribbean, and most of North America. I have been writing this book for some time now and will be glad to see it published."

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Sample Excerpts

MARK: CRAWL... THEN WALK... THEN RUN... YOU RUN FAST AT FIRST. UNAWARE OF WHAT YOU POSSESS. THIS GIFT... A GIFT OF BREATH. YOU BREATHE QUICK, AND OFTEN HOLD YOUR BREATH. SLOWLY THE AIR COMES OUT. THEN YOU CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHERE IT HAS GONE. IT LEFT... LEFT WAS A MARK. A MARK YOU DID NOT REALIZE YOU WERE MAKING. WAS IT THE ONE YOU WANTED TO LEAVE. BREATHE... L.J.M 6/96
		Heroes: Death does not hold you back. It's grip cannot hold you firm. Fear is absorbed and turned into aggression. Morals and values fuel your beliefs. Believing provides you with the will and strength to overcome. Believe enough to sacrifice anything and everything. You have walked, run, and dug yourself into land both friendly and foreign. You have fought both at home and abroad. You look into the face of oppression and evil and frown. You have fought in the oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes, both above and below. You have scraped the heavens and stained the clouds with your smoke and blood. You take the battlefield to any place you go. It may lead you down a dark alley in any poverty stricken place. You will leap into drug dens and burning buildings. You will run to protect an innocent being violated in any way anywhere. You win often, but not always. Some give themselves, their eyes, ears, arms, legs, hands, feet, and most often their minds. Most often you choose to walk in the shoes you wear. Sometimes life is whispering in your ear, and you cannot reject it. You react to protect and save, with compassion, understanding and justice. Heroes often are made with a heroic act, but there are plenty of heroes performing miracles everyday yet go unrecognized. These are the people, who work to prevent disease, keep you alive a little longer, teach your children, and volunteer their help for anyone who needs it. Heroes come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and forms. They come with all different titles and job descriptions. Heroes live in and around all of us. We all can be heroes at some point in our lives. Let it happen. To all the heroes in our past, present, and future. In memory of Michael Carlo and Charles Lucania
Work: Work for a reason, change, moment, nothing a paycheck, a person people, for yourself, A country, city, state, school, commuinity, your neighbors. The family, your wife, kids, house, car, boat, and to go on vacation. In circumstances, varying conditions, situations, and plenty of places. At your personality, relationships, appearances, problems and sometimes in vein. To get ahead, for enjoyment, fulfillment, a goal, or the end. Work to live, What is to live? To work, work for what. What will work when it is time to die? What you have worked for was to forget to live. Work to want, not to have to.
	Pen Where are you? Your touch, face, voice and eyes. Your laugh, fears, gripes, growls and sighs. Your hands, feet, fingers, toes and arms. Where are you? There is no response. I cannot reach you. I long to find you and feel the way I did when we shared time together. Where are you? I close my eyes and there you are. Hello it is me again. I have returned. It has been a long time. I have tried to pick you up, but I had forgotten how. Months have gone by like days. My life has become routine. I have lost my imagination, enthusiasm, exhilaration, and motivation I was used to. I forgot what you have done for me. All the insights you have shown to me. I know our purpose now. Your ink is my blood. Your marks are my thoughts and observations. You aid me in questioning my surroundings and myself. I feel free when I visit you. You complete and communicate my emotions. You are my greatest form of expressions. Thank you my generous pen. ?/?/??

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Catalogue Information

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