If you are a father, or know one, this book is for you. I believe parents share many of the same hopes and fears for their kids. This is my attempt to capture those emotions. ABOUT THIS BOOK & THE 52 PROJECT This is a companion piece to an art exhibit of the same title. It appeared as part of a two month summer series of mini-exhibitions at the Riverside Art Museum, consisting of nearly three dozen "newish" artists. This is my first book of poetry and my first creation to appear in a museum. This project captures one father's low-tech effort to communicate with his sons. The plywood and copy paper collage, as well as the poetry chapbook's design, are influenced by the primary raw materials used in this exhibit: spiral bound notebooks. Seven notebooks of messages and doodles were copied, cut, and reordered to illustrate how people make-up family bonds and roles using complex communication systems. Fear was the catalyst. Fear I was losing my connection to my children. Fear they would be harmed by my divorce. Fear that an identity and worldview honed over two decades of marriage was gone and I had no idea how to fill that hole. So I started writing notes to them. These were mostly reminders about chores, dinner plans, and where I could be found. We added doodles, then more detailed drawings and puns, as a way to entertain each other. The project is proof that the power to destroy and create anything worthwhile is in our hands.
About the Author: This book is drawn from my experiences while raising my two sons, now 23 and 21. I have ample time to reflect on those years while I chase around my nearly 2 year old daughter. I guess I liked raising those boys more than I thought! Larry Burns is a SoCal native. Most of his work reveals elements of that history and geography with simple situations that provide plenty of room for the reader to create a particular meaning or subject. He believes that writing is a community effort, with the writer as the focal point; done in order to create a radiating outward of expression and description of the human condition. All things serve the Wheel. Larry Burns is a SoCal native and draws inspiration and ideas from its mixture of sights, sounds, peoples, and places. He enjoys writing that employs simple themes and language, allowing the reader to participate by establishing for themselves what the writing means. Beyond writing, he supports the writing community as a faculty member with University of Phoenix and as a founding member of Inlandia Institute. "As a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire, sometimes my lungs seize from the diesel fumes and my eyes tell me there are no mountains to the north. But beneath the dirt lies treasure. And that treasure is mine, mine all mine!"