"This is the story of life. This is the story of an accident waiting to happen. This is the story of a great mystery in the making. This is the story of a great fiasco waiting to be born. This is a story aching to be told. This is a story of hopes and dreams, laughter and tears, fury, glory, passion and fears. This is a story yet to unfold. This is the story of losing my virginity. This is the story of my expulsion from the Garden of Eden. This is the story of me and you. This is the story of 1 + 1 = another one. This is the story of this, that and the other one. This is the story of my extraction from the womb. This is the story of my resurrection from the tomb. This is a story without retraction. This is the story. This is a story" - Duane Alan Cook
"Never underestimate the depth of my shallows, nor the shallows of my depth" - Duane Alan Cook
I live by my own morals, values and rules, ideals, dreams and my own reality. I have reconstructed Descartes' infamous building block of existence and philosophy, "I think, therefore I am", into my own adopted/adapted, personal construct and philosophy of life, existence, and reality: "I think I am, therefore I may be...anything I desire", and I desire all things infinitely wonderful.
I thirst for, and crave, knowledge and I am constantly seeking out new ideas and wisdom, knowledge and experiences - I just need to know everything I can about the world around me, and everyone in it - most times, I am trying to find out as much about myself as I can, so I am constantly challenging myself to be a better person, and to overcome all fears, challenges and obstacles I come across and face in my life.
I love the Arts and Nature, and believe that Art not only Imitates Life-Life Imitates Art, but that Art and Life are mirrors of each other. To me "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" - John Keats. I guess that's why I read and write: to try to express the inexpressible and indefinable; to discover (and create my own) touchstones of humanity, and to achieve and catch a fleeting glimpse of the sublime and the absolute beautiful truth, and I am always expressing my self in words and music!!!
"Every morning I awake from dreaming with music in my head, sometimes familiar, sometimes not. Sometimes it is music that inspires, or has been inspired by my waking life and has thus been amplified in my dreams; or it is strange music that I have composed and only heard played in my dreams, and that I seek to recapture once I awake - at times I succeed, at other times I do not. Nevertheless, these vivid, yet elusive melodies are always pleasant and uplifting, persistent and amusing. And there are always images, visions and pictures lingering and commingling with the music as remembrances of my dreams. And there are inspirational words and familiar phrases from life, literature and song that complete the story, and that capture the emotion, tone and mood of the entire dream, and set the poetic overture and symphonic dream into motion once again and into the next movement" - Duane Alan Cook
"Everyone lives and dreams and has a unique story to tell. Eventually life must end, but in death, as in life, there exists an opportunity for rebirth and a renewed hope that the dreams and stories that inspire, and are inspired by life, may live on in a greater historical sense and poetic tradition; and most importantly, in a deeply personal manner. Life is an impossible dream, and in the story of Life, life and death meet to create a new beginning, a new life and dream, a new story. There can be no stories if there are no poets, no poets if there is no life. In short: Poetry is Life, Life is Poetry" - Duane Alan Cook
If you would like to read some of my shorter poetry, then search "Cook" "Duane" on The International Poets' Society homepage - simply click on the following link: Click HERE to Read Selected Works of DUANE ALAN COOK
All selections that come up under the three consecutive headings "Cook, Duane Alan" are my own ["Tell Me-Show Me I and II" and "Demain Demain" appear under separate headings for some reason; and please note that the entries under "Cook, Duane E." are not mine]. Some poems are broken into two or three parts as there is a maximum of 20 lines of text per page; many of these are missing the introductions or dedications, so if you want to read those, I can email the complete Word docs to you. This is only a small portion of my collection, some of which have been published. I have also written and composed a lot of prose and song lyrics that I could forward to you, if you are at all interested.
Life is a fantastic journey: "The first commandment for every good explorer is that an expedition has two points: the point of departure and the point of arrival. If your intention is to make the second theoretical point coincide with the actual point of arrival, don’t think about the means – because the journey is a virtual space that finishes when it finishes, and there are as many means as there are different ways of “finishing”…"
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
"One never really knows what will be encountered when first embarking on such a journey - there are always so many questions: "what ifs?", the great unknown and all of its mysteries, pitfalls and dangers. There are always warnings one must heed, too: "Oh, don't go there" (as if "there" was such a bad place), but I've never been afraid of travel. In fact, I’m in a constant state of travel and adventure in my wandering life, my stationhouse mind - my grounded imagination. But stakes, foundations, and even entire settlements built atop fortified mountains can be uprooted and moved to new locations, or destroyed, and rebuilt. People have even been known to live in houses built upon wheels, or floating dwelling places destined for the back of beyond, or the bottom of the sea. Some may have even sailed off the edge of the earth, but that was before 1492. Nonetheless, it's still the journey that remains important. The point of departure and the destination are only secondary, for the time being at least. The length of the voyage is likewise quite unimportant, as time is nearly always relative, though constant and persistent.
"Alas, step on board a dream vision and escape this time and place. I’ll take you away; I'll take you "there". Pack your bags, and make any necessary arrangements: cancel your newspaper; have your neighbour collect the mail, and feed the cat; pretend you've just gone out for the evening, when in fact you've stepped out for the duration. And remember this little piece of advice: "Travel well, and travel often, but travel light". Take this little book along for the ride, if you wish, as a silent, but helpful companion: a passport to the ports of call on this journey. For it is always wise to wisely choose with whom you travel. There is nothing more frightful than an uncompanionable companion, except perhaps to never embark on a new adventure at all - ever.
"Ensuite, allons y! Bon Voyage!
"p.s. never say "Bomb in my briefcase" in a Customs area, even if it’s not true - this is a very bad thing" - Duane Alan Cook, from BOOK I, Part I of The Great Fiasco
Life is fleeting, and Time is always persistent - get busy living, or die trying; and dare to live all your crazy dreams!!!
Live large and prosper!!!
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