"If the evil doings of men move you to indignation and overwhelming distress, even to a desire for vengeance on the evildoers, shun above all thing that feeling. Go at once and seek suffering for yourself, as though you were yourself guilty of that wrong. Accept that suffering and bear it and your heart will find comfort, and you will understand that you too are guilty, for you might have been a light to the evildoers and were not a light to them."

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky from,

The Brothers Karamazov

A collection of poems written over the course of nearly 30 years. From the arrogance and innocence of youth to the vengeful musings of a crudmugeon. Romance, philosophy, death, religion, even *gasp* heartbreak are woven through these paltry offerings. In these scribblings you will find unfinished paintings. You will see the reflection of the war years... you have to choose which war - perhaps the one that best suits you. You will encounter mystical prophets and nearly naked young ladies and grumpy old men.

The title, Two Voices, is the mystique of this collection. Two Voices is the dance I don't do. Two Voices is the magic I don't do. Two Voices symbolizes the relationship between my writing and your reading. I "speak" with my one voice and you "hear" with the second voice, your own. So we collaborate. Much of the content that you will find in my work is not there in my voice. You will paint the picture. You will hear the music. You will write the poetry. I have written these pieces. They will not be rewritten - so I can say that I don't dance. I have imparted meaning to these collections of words. Yet the value comes from you reading them - so I don't do magic.

The title, Two Voices, is an insight into my writing. Seldom if ever do we hear just one voice in our world. More often than not we are subject to barrages of voices all speaking at the same time - and then there is our internal voice(s) offering continuous commentary. Many of these pieces are an attempt to capture in some small measure that multi-dimensionality of voices. Or at least two.

In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into

use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather

which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.

                -- Mark Twain