Titan Women: About this book.

To the Titan Women:

                    About this book (2003)

The work before your eyes is an outtake from a larger creative effort (Bones in My Soul) that grew too big and may soon shatter. (It did.) In sharing that work with friends, I asked what expressions they liked best. More often than not, friends cited the “relationship” poems. Now, this is hard. I like my “idea” poems, anchored in teleology and eyeballs. Girls write about relationships, Men about ideas and events.


At least I that’s how it seemed when I was part of college poetry class some years ago -- From the offerings in the class and the works in our anthology we recognized a bold pattern. I bet I could pick 10-to-1 whether a given piece of poetry was penned by a woman or a guy. As a man, I would much rather be known for my stupendous frontal-lobe than for the width of my heart. Which is somewhat perverse, and why we so need women.


There are other reasons men need women, not the least of which is that we were made to. Men are, for reasons anchored in the mind of God, made better for having loved women, and a particular woman at that. Beyond that there is the stuff of procreation, civilization, and the economy of heating fuel.


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Truth be told, I do like writing about relationships. (Living them, now that’s a trick.) In fact, in talking with some internet friends several of us guys on the list came to a peculiar realization: Public wisdom has it that boys are okay with their moms until about age six, after which they develop the thought that girls are cootie-infested trolls, which holds until about age thirteen when the behemoth of testosterone kicks in and renders all women-flesh once again a thing of supreme enjoyment. Not so us. Given that we are all music types, the survey may be skewed, but we found that to the man, we have always cherished women – even as third graders!


This state of affairs has its counterpoint, especially among those who call upon the name of the Lord and wish our affections ordered under his light. We not only love women, but we are ordered to love them in the right way --Not as objects of lust or idolatrous passion, but as fellow travelers to the city of God.


Thank God for his Grace and the very beauty of godly women that would drive us to higher things. Thank God that he will not leave us to our lower selves, but pushes us into the realm of greater pleasure.


Thank God for my wife.


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Note: While tame by literary standards, this work includes a spattering of sexual allusions that ride the edge of my comfort zone. I believe that these expressions are consistent with Holy Ghost liberty. If, after reading the Song of Songs or the Bible prophets, any one disagrees, I firmly apologize. I have attempted, even in my ardor to be mindful of the mature but celibate reader.






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