Books by Traumear

Poetry that unites thought and feeling. (The last 15 poems are in German.)

These fairly short stories are lighthearted, a little bit thought-provoking and while fantasy here and there plays a role, they are not 'fantastic', in terms of magic, mayhem and monsters. I wrote them for my grandchildren when they were between about eight and fourteen years old. - In the end one really has to let parents decide what is suitable for their offspring.

127 items of verse - for example: A Proposition A ruined city, a costly war - But a bright sky, no fireworks, now, Though you fret to be back in harness. My nature is milk, my love wine, You have thoroughly enlightened me. Now glance in my direction one last time.

The desire to be what we are holds the kernel of our inquiry into conduct, in comparison to simply being what we are, which allows for no inquiry and any attempt to attach a study of conduct to human existence as such becomes fictional and illusory from the start. A science of conduct which maintains us in the light of day and teaches us not to fear sleep and to welcome the dream on its own terms.

The author is only marginally concerned with what happens in the schoolroom. Towards the end there is emphasis on art-work as an aspect of parenting.Education and schooling are discussed first and foremost as parental responsibilities. However it seems we can all do with being schooled and educated, throughout our lives, and it is in this direction of interest that this essay provides the most useful insights. As is usual with creative philosophy in terms of a research essay, the onus is not on pat suggestions and answers but on a stimulation of spontaneous thought and feeling plus exemplary demonstration (art) of anything of value as it turns up.

I draw attention to the organic evolution of this work. The titles of the four sections give a hint. We are instinctively touched by human-natural affection. This will at first disturb us, however if we believe it we then make contact with the world not as we prefer or regret it but 'as is'. This implies our contemporary contribution to our community and subsequently we have this amazing advantage of world as sacrament, as existential 'bread and wine', if you like.(Also please to keep in mind that the real link is not visible but invisible)

Four short prose pieces, exploring the two sides of our nature, both human and otherwise. A bit surprising at times, then somewhat thoughtful, lastly 'with tender loving care'.

A few short (minimalist) treatments of some everyday notions. The reader is invited to derive some satisfaction from having his visual field limited to a regular five or six lines at a time. The idea for this concentration of prose, similar to verse, rose out of thoughts on minimalism. For the writer it is a concentration-device.

If we take the light by which we see too much for granted, we may find ourselves lost in the dark, so that we may learn to value it properly. Wisdom arrives with a lamp and teaches us to restore within ourselves the sense of wonder we possessed as children. Our body and mind as one again, not separate as in terms of materialism and spiritualism, respectively, allows us then to perceive beings and world rather than things and the world of things.

I distinguish between modern poetry and contemporary poetry. In this book I discuss and demonstrate what I mean by the latter. One characteristic, perhaps the main one, of contemporary poetry, as of all contemporary creative art, is that thinking and feeling are one. By the same token do beauty and truth not figure separately, as illusion and opinion.This book is itself a contemporary statement in favour poetry, however entirely from a personal practitioner's point of view. I show how it can be done and do not wish to be imitated except perhaps in my belief that contemporary poetry is an eminently worthwhile activity as an aid to mature human being and life.

The author recommends these at times rather difficult essays to anyone who can no longer quite come to terms with the demands of his human nature in our present cultural environment. Their common theme might be described as the transition from modern interpretation to contemporary creation, in other words away from anxiety-based ideal constructs towards discoveries made during the search for true reality. The form is fluid, the content is thought-provoking. The notions put forward are not left in intellectual isolation but tried and tested by the author during his lifetime. In a way they present the culmination of his thought during the previous twenty years.

This book is a novel inasmuch as it encompasses the New Life, as based principally on good will and unconditional love. Not characters depict traits but persons play roles. The story at the heart of the novel is conventional, often touching, humorous, thought-provoking. In volume I the author deals with some of the problems of contemporary life in terms of friendship and family. In volume II we are invited to contemplate the implications of value joined with policy. Fantasy plays a role in the rational inception of communal existence based on sense and good will.

This book is a novel inasmuch as it encompasses the New Life, as based principally on good will and unconditional love. Not characters depict traits but persons play roles. The story at the heart of the novel is conventional, often touching, humorous, thought-provoking. In volume I the author deals with some of the problems of contemporary life in terms of friendship and family. In volume II we are invited to contemplate the implications of value joined with policy. Fantasy plays a role in the rational inception of communal existence based on sense and good will.

Fantasy, invention, personal experience - a sense of the absurd - all these play a role, separately or in combination. Taken as a whole, they are not a collection but a series, adhering to an internal, developmental element. The principle attraction, as I see it, is surely the language, the way it insists on itself as worthy of distinction and not necessarily in need of rhetorical devices.