This book contains poetry for the people, a return to the days when poetry truly mattered, when bards spoke to the masses in rhythm and rhyme to share important life lessons. Poetry was profoundly important and entertaining then, and it is in this book as well. These poems are tightly structured. They display a patterned symmetry and flow leading logically and inexorably to teachable moments, usually captured by powerful poetic punchlines. Meter, rhythm, and pace render them eminently readable, lyrical, even musical. All poems have tight and creative rhyming patterns. Diction and syntax reflect meticulous wordsmithing with word choices, phrasing, and figurative language thoughtfully employed throughout. The book also offers rare and private insights into the mind of the poet, and into the creative process itself. General writing approach, style, and techniques, as well as the story and circumstances behind each individual poem, are shared in intimate detail. Understanding what the poet was thinking, why he approached each poem as he did, and what poetic techniques he employed, all enable the reader to better understand, appreciate, and enjoy the poetry.
About the Author: About the Author Biography Bart Johnson is a career businessman in financial services and mortgage lending. He has always been something of a modern Renaissance Man, with a passion for creative activities. Born and raised in Michigan, he has lived in a total of seven states and resides now in Palo Alto, California. He is an avid traveler having visited forty-three countries on five continents in a variety of civilized and adventure trips. Bart has been a winemaker with his own private labels, first Bart Noir and more recently Entendre Wines. But his true passion is now and always has been writing, and he has written and published award-winning business articles and newsletters, travel articles, short stories, poetry, and the book noted below. Semi-retired from his business career, he recently published this book, "Bard Bart: Poetic Rhymes & Punchlines", and is working on several other projects. Other Books Up North: A Better Place and Time A memoir of his family's annual childhood trips from inner-city Detroit to Northern Michigan, trading big city living to become hunters and gatherers with their bounty-hunting grandfather. That book featured poems from him and from seven other family members. It won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award as the Best Book - Inspirational Category from the North American Bookdealers Exchange (NABE) in 2002, judged among more than ten thousand books considered.