David E. Tarr

Scattered Negatives and Unframed Pictures: Poetic Musing David E. Tarr

This collection of poetic musing covers many years of life events. Since retirement from Simpson University, California, Dr. Tarr has spent much of the past decade in counseling homeless individuals and in volunteer work with Vitas hospice patients. Some of these experiences may be noticed in a few writings. Several poems were previously published in "Appalachian Chains of Life and Love," McClain Book Publisher, Parsons, West Virginia, 1980. With the exception of the trilogies, each poem stands alone and should not be considered as connecting events. The Preface reads - The loss of a friend is often traumatic. Even when the parting is foreseen and the reasons are understood, the vacuum still creeps in and wants to linger. Not all separations are final, but even the temporary lack of sharing life with another can wear upon us - dusting a vacated room of the first-married child; sipping morning coffee alone as you stare at the empty, neighbor's house; driving past the old deserted elementary school; sorting through grandmother's pictures after the funeral. Absence may "make the heart grow fonder" but offers little consolation. Memories of the past wrapped in faith for the future can give warmth to the coldest doubter. True friendships are never lost if they remain framed upon the memory and the negatives are kept for new prints.