Songs from Another Era

I started writing poetry or more accurately perhaps lyrics, at the age of about 12. At that time, I had just received my first acoustic guitar for Christmas and had already formed a ‘band’ with Andy Wells, my next door neighbour. Andy has, I think, played around bands ever since in the USA where he now lives and owns a huge collection of guitars. We would sit in our front rooms strumming the odd malformed chord and dreaming in the way only adolescents can dream. Of course, the early 70’s really was a great time for this with wave after wave of new bands coming through and cranking out three chord singles by the bucket load. I particularly loved T.Rex I recall and fancied myself as another Marc Bolan. In the room I am writing this there is a folder of old foolscap papers with scrawled handwritten lyrics dating back to 1972. Precious to me but are those awful lyrics or what and I wouldn’t dream of forcing them on all of you.

Marc-Bolan-20th-Century-Boy

I did play in several bands in my teens. My taste in music migrated to Status Quo and I got locked into 12-bar as a guitarist and never really progressed much. I am a competent rythym guitarist but thats about all. My acoustic from Woolworths graduated into a CMI Telecaster deluxe electric in black with a maple neck. I worked two years doing a paper round to buy it and I still have it. In fact, it is behind me. It is the only guitar I have ever wanted.

Where am I going with this story then? Well, my first book of poetry – Weird Tales – published in 2006 contains a few of those early sets of lyrics. I sat and ploughed through the teenage angst and the teenage crushes and actually found a few that I thought were good. The first collection of poetry that I published then contains my work from 1972 through to 2005. Here is one poem from 1972 that if you came for a visit, I could still sing to you with my guitar….

Changing

I feel the cold breath upon my naked face
And the dark shadows in my heart
Watching – with heavy lidded eyes
I realize – that what I see
Is only there for me to see
And life is another mystery

Time lies heavily upon us all
And yet in the future I can perceive
The winds of change for good or ill
Changing – the things living around me
And slowly – I see again all the steamy rain
The pain, and anguish overrides hope

When I re-read this poem this morning looking for inspiration for a blog article, I suddenly realized that nothing much changes at all. Here is a poem written at age 12 that talks about….. reality and life. I was already obsessed with what constitutes reality and our experience of it – even all of those years ago. This is echoed in many of the songs and poems that form Weird Tales including this little ditty that I wrote at college in around 1980.

Gone Again

Gone again
Hardly a moment to spare
I don’t know where life is leading
And I don’t really care
Gone again
Was I ever really there?

Slot machine bingo
Maniacal stares
Readily unfolding
In front of me
Unzip and down to flesh again
Automatic eyes
Lasared to see

Pull another cocktail
Molotov type
Shoving it down inside
Deep inside
Dilation and comforting sensation
Try me
I am on your side

Gone again
Not a moment to spare
God only knows what I am doing
And he doesn’t care
Gone again
Was I ever really there?

Both poems from Weird Tales published in 2006.

Weird Tales Cover

Politic

The building shakes you awake
Caricatures of unimportant people
Small minded ignorance
In the cold light of day
Torture and twist the minds of the people
With the ancient mode of your elders
Shatter the innocence of youth
Punish the sick under your roof

Material possessions not allowed
And share and share alike
Rich people made poor, poor made rich
Xenophobia gone mad to the end of time
Sickness of the communal mind
Togetherness in folly

Well – you keep your ideology
We’ll put it in an ivory tower
And laugh from afar
You can keep your systems
Freshly painted, in a jar
Invent your weapons of destruction
We’ll have the last laugh
At the power of your deduction
Gone wrong

politic_36055

Politic image

Weird Tales CoverPolitic from Weird Tales: Otherworld Poetry by Dr. G. Michael Vasey published 2006.

Moon Whispers – Another Collection Coming Soon….

In the last few days I have pulled together a bunch of recent poems to be published as Moon Whispers – A New Collection. I am working on the MS, working my way through the BookSurge process and have asked a few other writers to review for back cover-type reviews (In this I have asked some of my Roundfire Books authors to help out and some have kindly agreed. The volume will contain over 30 new poems including Moon Whispers and will be available in paperback and Kindle format in a few weeks. The prior three poetry collections are as follows;

Weird Tales: Otherworld Poetry (Createspace, 2006) – a collection of 31 poems some of which were written 40-years ago!
Poems for the Little Room (Lulu, 2012 and Booksurge, 2014)- a collection of 15 poems combined with photos originally published via LuLu in 2012 but now repackaged and republished on Booksurge in 2014 to get the cost down.
Astral Messages: The Poems and Thoughts of a Troubled Mind (Booksurge, 2013) – A collection of 16 poems combined with short articles that supplement the poems.

All three prior collections are available on Amazon sites in paperback and Kindle formats.

Easter Monday Freebies

Happy Easter from me.

On Easter Monday and just for the day, you can grab a Kindle version of my first two books of poetry for FREE…. Don’t miss it!

Poems for the Little Room, Lulu, 2012
BookCoverImage

This is my second book of poetry originally published via Lulu but now re-published via Creatspace to get it wider availability and a better price. It combines images and poems that range from a humorous look at a Czech TV interviewer Jan Kraus through to stories of idyllic love – both for partner and daughter. The idea behind this over sized book was that it would be ideal for that little room where guests only want something to leaf through for a short time! Hence its name….

ISBN-10: 1493783114
ISBN-13: 978-1493783113

Weird Tales: Other World Poetry

 

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Weird Tales: Other world Poetry, Booksurge, 2006
Weird Tales Cover

Weird Tales is the second book published by Dr. G. Michael Vasey and it is a collection of poems or simply ‘words on paper.’ 31 poems written over many years ranging from love poems to comments on modern society. It’s all there….

There are words
I could use to tell you
Exactly how I feel
But they have no meaning
For they are just words
Awkward sounds juxtaposed
Lacking translation
Losing their meaning

ISBN-10: 141965277X
ISBN-13: 978-1419652776

 

Happy downloading!

 

Ambition

One of my ambitions is to sell a few books. OK, I have sold a few books already but not enough to match the ambition. No, I mean a few thousand of one book.

The Last Observer, my first novel, probably is the leading candidate for that ambition at least until I can finish the one I am working on at the moment and get it out. The Last Observer has gotten a lot of good reviews but it hasn’t taken off like I had hoped. Check it out… it is a short read and a fast-paced adventure that along the way, will give you a lot to think about on the nature of reality. Join Stanley as he gets sucked into a world of black and white magic. It is a battle for reality. Here is how one recent reader described it..”Interesting perspective regarding how our infinite minds may shape our collective reality. Many books tackle this hypothesis, but this action thriller makes for fun reading as you gather fascinating concepts along the way. The story line and presentation of historical ideas is quite similar to a Dan Brown novel, in an abbreviated version.”

Inner Journeys was my first book. It too has had excellent reviews and it is probably best described as part autobiography and part spiritual journey.  A recent reader posted “This book is part memoir and part teaching, focusing on Dr. Vasey’s own inner journey. As a young boy, he had many psychic experiences that enveloped him in fear. But, years later, he embraced the exploration of the many aspects of his soul, working with the guidance of a mystery school. If you are interested in spiritual alchemy, collective consciousness, journeying – or whatever term you use for this type of spiritual exploration – you will learn much from this book.” Published by Thoth, its now also available in eBook format.

The next book I wrote I simply could not finish. I had the core of it and it was a sort of continuation of Inner Journeys but dealt with some material I had gained on the hexagram as a symbol. Luckily, Sue Vincent agreed to help put the finishing touches to it which included the introduction and much of the appendices as well as diagrams and editing. The result was The Mystical Hexagram published by Datura Press and also available in ebook form. Here is what a recent reader had to say about it..I have been so lucky (although nothing is luck, really) to have made the acquaintance of Sue Vincent, the coauthor of the Mystical Hexagram, through the world of blogging. Not only is she a lovely, genuine soul, she harbors a wealth of knowledge. She and Dr. Vasey have combined their talents in this small, yet densely packed book on the hexagram. Although I will, no doubt, be unraveling its many mysteries for some time, this book has helped shed light on a symbol that has, over the last few years, been a key player in leading me to mysteries of the Universe and my own Truth. For all seekers of truth, put this on your reading list!

Of course, I have also published three books of poetry. These I do not expect to be best sellers but you never know… They are Weird Tales, Astral Messages and Poems for the Little Room.

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Why not give one of my books a try and if you like it, please write a review and share your opinions with people. I think the only way I will manage my ambition is through word of mouth and the support of my friends and family. Share this post or pop over to my books’ Facebook page and like it…..

Thanks,

Three Books of Poetry….

I have three books of poetry in print. All are available on Amazon sites in paperback and Kindle formats.

This is their story….

I began writing poems when I was a boy. It was an outlet. A few years ago, I found a huge pile of handwritten poems that I had written dating back to 1974 and, trust me, some were just downright embarrassing! Some, however, weren’t all that bad. I put these in a pile and typed them into MS WORD for better keeping and put them all in my poetry directory on my PC. I had about 50 poems there so I once again selected what I thought were some of the best and made them into a book. It was self-published off course but it was a nice little book of poems called Weird Tales: Other World Poetry (Booksurge, 2006).

Weird Tales Cover

A few years later, and many more poems later, I had what I thought was a bright idea. Poetry doesn’t sell well but what if I combined the poetry with some nice photos in an over sized book and targeted people who like to have the odd nice book in their lavatory! The idea came to me visiting a friend who’s little room had several quiet nice books in it including some short poetry books. This is how Poems for the Little Room (Lulu, 2012) cam about would you believe? Unfortunately, the paperback version is quite pricey via Lulu and I have never figured a way to get it into Kindle format so its only available via Lulu.com or from me either directly or from Amazon.co.uk.

BookCoverImage

Finally, this year I saw that I again had a lot of poems stacked up, some of which I thought were good. Again, I thought I would publish them but with another difference still trying to see if I could find a workable formula. This time, I would combine poems with articles from my blog Asteroth’s Domain in pairs. The poem and the article support one another and perhaps provide a basis for some meditation. The result called Astral Messages got a little lost in the marketing of my novella – The Last Observer – but nonetheless is out there…..

Cover

Now, to whet your appetite a bit, here is a poem from each…

Weird Tales – Heaven

Lips brush
Noses touch
Wrap myself around you
Tie you up in knots
And never let go

A hug
A kiss
Was all that it took
My knees go weak
And the heat rises

Life change
Motion
Headed in a new direction
And happy about it
Happy to be with you

A moment was all
How did I fall
Into the depths of love
A single meeting
An amazing greeting
And it was done

Darkness
Passion
I find myself enrapt
How I want and need you
And that look in your eyes

Hotel
Room spins
Kisses turn more urgent
And the smell of your skin
Surely, heaven is here

Poems for the Little Room – In My Head

I used to dream and imagine
Places I had never seen
I used to make up tunes
And sing them in my head
That world was real to me
More real than this one
I could be anyone
And do anything
In my head
I could be you
You could be me
In my head
In my inner world
In my deepest thoughts
Inside my head
I yearn to go back there
Visit more and more
What I create in that world
Is reflected in this one
What I am inside my head
Is what I become here

Astral Messages – Life’s Tapestry

The lines are blurred
And faces merged
The funniest thing you’ll see
Moments in time and space
Held close for eternity
Just pictures saved by memory
Like silent movies played
Flickering images passing by
Do these belong to me?
Or is everything I see
From another, not me
The colours and the smells
The angles lacking symmetry
The sounds and sights
Images bound in space
The inner revelries revealed
My life’s tapestry
Unraveled
Untied
Betwixt and between
Reality

Where Is My Enthusiasm?

From time-to-time, we lose our way a bit. Distractions or pure bloody laziness are usually to blame. For the last several weeks, it has been the latter for me. I can’t be bothered to meditate I really can’t. I feel flat – not down – but flat, lacking in excitement and with no zest at all for anything. It’s a strange feeling. A bit like treading water or something. Is it the weather, the time of year, my age???? Who knows? In a couple of weeks or so, we move back to Brno and I am hoping that a change of scenery makes the difference and rekindles the fires.

What is missing is enthusiasm.

enthusiasm-is-gone

Enthusiasm has always been my driving force. The fuel for my engine. My inner fire. Enthusiasm is similar to desire but it supports desire in the sense that it feeds and drives the desire to action and hopefully results. My enthusiasm has gone. But where the hell did it go and why? I have been looking for it around the house but to be honest, I don’t really know what it looks like and so I haven’t found it. How do you get enthusiasm back? Does anyone know? If you happen to see my enthusiasm somewhere, please chase it back.

Thanks!

I wrote a poem many years ago that seems to fit my mood. It’s called Gone again and it appeared in my first book of poetry – Weird Tales. Here it is…

Gone Again

Gone again
Hardly a moment to spare
I don’t know where life is leading
And I don’t really care
Gone again
Was I ever really there?

Slot machine bingo
Maniacal stares
Readily unfolding
In front of me
Unzip and down to flesh again
Automatic eyes
Lasered to see

Pull another cocktail
Molotov type
Shoving it down inside
Deep inside
Dilation and comforting sensation
Try me
I am on your side

Gone again
Not a moment to spare
God only knows what I am doing
And he doesn’t care
Gone again
Was I ever really there?

New Version of Poems for the Little Room

I published my second book of poetry a couple of years ago and for some reason chose to do so on Lulu.com. The problem with that was it was a very expensive finished product and there was no way to make a Kindle version. Late last year, I used Amazon to publish Astral Messages – my third book or poetry – and it was so easy….. This made me think. Why not re-do Poems for the Little Room on Amazon? So – very shortly, a new version of Poems for the Little Room will be available in paperback and Kindle formats from the Amazon sites. It will still be a tad pricey because its full color but nothing like the price on Lulu.com…

My three books of poetry –

Astral Messages: Poetry from Beyond, Createspace, 2013
Astral Messages Cover
Astral Messages is my third book of poetry. It uses poems and blog articles from – Asteroth’s Domain – in a poetic discussion about reality and magic. From the opening ethereal beauty of “Astral Messages” to the humor of the questioning about “Why is life so dirty”, this is a collection of 17 new poems. Each is coupled with a short article to strengthen and bolster the points being made. At the end of the day, we are all magicians willfully creating our realities and Astral Messages demonstrates how this touches all aspects of our lives – yes, even our socks!

Available in paperback and Kindle formats from the Amazon sites.

ISBN-10: 1490312633
ISBN-13: 978-1490312637

Weird Tales: Other world Poetry, Booksurge, 2006
Weird Tales Cover

Weird Tales is the second book published by Dr. G. Michael Vasey and it is a collection of poems or simply ‘words on paper.’ 31 poems written over many years ranging from love poems to comments on modern society. It’s all there….

There are words
I could use to tell you
Exactly how I feel
But they have no meaning
For they are just words
Awkward sounds juxtaposed
Lacking translation
Losing their meaning

ISBN-10: 141965277X
ISBN-13: 978-1419652776

and the soon to be re-issued Poems for the Little Room.

The Power of Imagination (from Weird Tales)

A fall into the ocean
A swim across the sea
Vivid imagination
Scheming silently
But can’t you see it?
Can’t you see it?
Can’t you see it too?

A flight into space
An atomic spark
Particle to particle
Like a walk in the park
But can’t you see it?
Can’t you see it?
Can’t you see it too?

imagination

Imagination
Imagination
Just deprivation
Sleep deprivation
A word is forming
Some translation
Form and meaning of
Imagination

From Weird Tales (Booksurge, 2006)

The Eagle’s Saga

eagle

Soaring up high
Flying oblivious
Eros aims and let’s fl y
The arrow finds its mark
Straight through my heart

dead eagle

Dying, I fall
In pain and in shock
Why me and why now?
How much does my red
blood run
Falling away from the light
of the sun

Perhaps better
To die falling from glory
Discovering I am yet a fool
Than betray myself to fate
Hurting kin and life mate

What can I say?
One who thought love
Would never again
Deem to show me a glimpse
Of her beautiful face

Venus_botticelli_detail

The smell of her skin
The feel of her touch
The lilt of her voice
The look in her eyes
What is between us?

The vengeful fates cackle
While spinning their eternal web
Objective achieved
The plot in place
They watch and wait

The tinder was dry
As the flame sprang to life
Angry and bright
Bringing forth such energy
Disrupting flight

Fire can destroy
But can also cleanse
So many questions
But no chance to ask
Unresolved and unfulfilled

fates

The Eagle’s glory
Is falling away
The wings flutter
It makes a last sound
Of pain as it hits the ground

Originally published in Weird Tales by Dr. G. Michael Vasey