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The Songs and Verses
A Book of Poetry, Songs and Insight from a Wanderer's Life
by
Jim Scott
This, the third book in the Wanderings and Sojourns series, was created in response to requests from people reading sections of the first two volumes: On Five Continents and Three Oceans and On Tropical Islands and Sparkling Seas. Those requests/suggestions were for a book comprised solely of the author’s poetry and songs. Within these pages then are 80 such works including several found in the first two volumes but with many more favourites added. Here you will find the love songs that had no place in the previous books, some longer story-poems that themselves recount an entire tale, more parodies of popular songs, sketches of sea-folk, philosophies and insights born from the author’s travels previously narrated. Here you will find a wanderer’s reflections upon a life of unique experience. The poetic styles crafted are as varied as the themes; from the blunt language of the “lower decks” sailor to an ethereal abstract allowing the reader to add whatever interpretation they will to the meaning; from the nonsense child-like rhymes that carry an adult message to the wistful lament of the broken heart. Each reader will relate many of the poems to their own experiences and perhaps, for just a while, share with the author the spirit of what is written as it disturbs something from deep within their memory, their personal philosophy, their soul.
Born in England, raised on the banks of a river in the Sussex countryside, Jim Scott from a young age developed strong spiritual connections with the natural realm. He wasn’t to understand this until much later in life when this realization explained the somewhat unique atavistic philosophies that evolved from his extensive travels and often ran against the grain of mainstream thinking. Mostly working and often living in close proximity with nature he developed a profound respect for the balance of how life is lived according to the planet’s natural wisdom. This is represented in his writing where he is not shy to criticize what he considers the synthetic, artificial worlds of cities, industry and reliance upon financial success, while advocating environmental causes, bucolic lifestyles and indigenous groups who yet follow the Old Ways of natural balance. Such views, backed by extensive and diverse experience within many realms of human existence and coupled with a keen interest in the written word created the perfect opportunity to express what he has seen and believes within his many fascinating stories, poems and essays. The list of countries to which Jim has wandered is long: Morocco, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Peru, Gibraltar, India, Antigua, South Africa, Portugal, and many, many more where his sojourns were lengthy enough for adventures to be lived and insightful philosophies developed from them. It is from such experiences among such disparate cultures, landscapes, politics and economies that the stories and verses in his books were forged. A father of three, Jim now lives in Canada and spends as much time as he can in the British Virgin Islands where two of his children were born and where, out of all the places to which he has wandered and in which he has sojourned, he feels most at home.
Contributors
- Author
- Jim Scott