Beyond the Shallows: Poetic insights to inspire, reflect upon and enjoy

A total novice in the literary sense, his Spirit-led writing often does battle with his intellectual bias regarding the presumed definition of a poem. The reader therefore receives a diverse selection of poem structure in the author's presentation of over 40 poems and haiku.

This book can be used as a daily devotional, as the author includes the provoking motivation for each of the poems. With subjects ranging from psalms of praise to the challenges of husband-wife relationship. He knows. The author is in his sixty-fifth year of marriage.

Every page of this book will enlighten, encourage, and entertain the reader.

How did Kennedy come to be a poet? He says, In my 85th year, the Lord gave me an unexpected 'burst of verse' which opened my eyes to the uniqueness of the poetic form. From that experience grew the challenge to convey with poetry bible insights and helpful examples of how some of life's challenges can be met.

"Conciseness with imaginative expression seems to define the poem as an effective, contemporary vehicle for use in our on-demand lifestyle.

"As with many readers who may not be familiar with current poetic format, I initially felt my poetry had to fit a rhyming formula. I went through a number of poetry style machinations over the several months following the initial poem writing experience.

"Gradually and with input from poet friends, I realized that nowadays there is no 'proper' way to poetically express yourself. This freedom highlights all the more, to me, the power of the poem to communicate.

"From this initial, I feel, Spirit-led beginning, and before I knew it, a collection of poetic 'truths' grew into a book."Concise examples from my forty years of working at learning the living of a Spirit-filled life will hopefully offer the reader enjoyable, poetic encouragement, insight and challenge.

"Just for reading fun, I offer my exploration into poetic 'tomfoolery'."

Kennedy trusts you will say, "Sounds good. Guess I'll give it a read-who knows I may even get bitten by the poetry bug."