The Boy in the Mirror (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Alan L. Slaff's poems read like tiny stories, and his ultra-descriptive images transport readers to the scene and inside his thoughts. His collection of poems causes the heart to fill with empathy and the soul to connect with a kindred spirit. This rich journey includes poems Slaff wrote from 1970 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2011 for this expanded 2nd edition. From his father's distant nature to the laughter of children in the streets of Vietnam, The Boy in the Mirror covers the entirety of Slaff's experiences, whether agonizing or ecstatic. In telling, through verse, of his feelings and thoughts, he highlights the emotions and needs of all people in both mundane life and in the deepest places of the soul. Whether the reader follows his poems to a diner, where a lemon served with tea becomes a connection to customers with a life he envies, or to the unbearable flashbacks of sexual abuse that he describes in the title piece, Slaff conveys his feelings in a fiery, affecting manner. Shorter works include ideas that punch through in creative terms, and his longer poems offer narrative-style takes on divorce, passion, death and the purpose of living. Slaff creatively ties normal routines with life-changing events. A childhood of dysfunction, assignments abroad that taught many lessons, and terrible heartbreaks that left everlasting marks all contribute to the impact of this remarkable work.