The Legacy of '99

There is no better description, at least we are inclined to think so, than to quote the 'Introduction' as it appears in the published copy of 'The Legacy of '99'.'There's wonder and excitement in the air. The very thought of a new millennium fills the people with great expectations - what will 2000 bring? Yet, amidst the awe, another feeling makes its presence known. It is a sense of destruction, even utter finality, which weighs heavily on many hearts and minds. Does 1999 lead us all to hope for the triumph of lasting peace with that true happiness which has been so elusive down throughout the ages? Or, is the realization of our deepest fears just below the horizon? Will the legacy of '99 be a new beginning or the end of an epoch - a better life for all the Earth's inhabitants, or the ultimate annihilation of the species? Perhaps something in between? Is mankind deserving of another chance to bring some measure of glory upon itself, or has it reaped the destruction pronounced by a higher court for all its misshapen deeds? The answer's left entirely in our own hands.I am dedicating these poems to the final year of the century and, indeed, the ending of the past 1000 years! As with 'A Child is Born' this second collection consists of unrelated themes and storylines. The only connecting thread is that each begins, and ends, during the year of 1999 - 52 in all, one for every week, plus an epitaph. And, of course, that they constitute the first two parts of the 'Ode to Friendship Trilogy' where that great and most wonderful gift is celebrated, be it subtle at times, in many of the poems included in each collection.What this legacy of 1999 shall ultimately prove to be is hidden from our eyes at present but, through our works, perhaps we each can make a difference and thus ensure a worthy conclusion to one age while creating the opportunity for a glorious entrance to the next. Already the year 2000 (y2k) is among us and will write a new and different chapter in the on-going saga of Life on Earth. Let us mind it well so that its epitaph can truly record 'acclaim' and greatly lessen mankind's long-held and terrible 'lament'.'The final dedication reads as follows: 'A safe and sound, healthy and happy new millennium!Have a genuinely good life, every one, Cheers, John Mul