Golden Light: these poems capture the mood of the Black Sea Coast, near the
ancient port city of Varna. I visited there in August 1998 and in two weeks
wrote over seventy poems reflecting my moods and thoughts in this strange new
place, with a spiritual connection with a mysterious past. For here in this
remote corner of the Balkan experience many civilizations have come and gone:
from ancient Thracians to Romans, Greeks and Turks. Around Varna you will
find a mixture of influences spanning more than twenty-four centuries. But
most particularly Varna was where my grandfather lived in the years between
the two World Wars. Here he worked, relaxed and probably loved: here his
spirit lives on. Let our journey begin as I ask you to relive that mythical
time of the Golden Light through these thirty-one poems. Soak up the color,
moods, frivolity, sadness and sensuality of this time and place. The poems
are divided into three periods in the journey:
- Loving You... a romantic prelude in Bulgaria,by the shimmering Black Sea
- Varna... a romantic destination, reliving the past
- Golden Light... a spiritual finale of symphonic variations: life, love and death
October 11, 1999