Customer Reviews:

• "Alex Ates Haywood has worn many hats and lived in exotic locales in his working lifetime. With this chapbook he dons his poetic hat and says what lonely people everywhere think but can't adequately express. His emotions "leak" through these pages as he shares life's joys and sorrows.

The title poem introduces Haywood's straightforward poetic style, tempered with visions that intrigue the mind's eye:

      I leak.
      like sunshine through
      venetian blinds,
      like the bright lights
      of an alien craft
      in an encounter
      of the third kind,
      I leak.

This excerpt from "First Time in a Long Time" represents a healing process that has been slow, painful, and arrives without warning:

      Today I danced while cooking,
      kinda slow, hesitant at first
      like the kids smiles
      watching momdad
      then I sang a few bars
      badly
      my angels now smiling broadly
      singing along
      enjoyed my wine
      first time in a long time.

"The End of the Day" reflects the thoughts of a weary man watching dark fall in the rain. This poem is best read in its entirety for full effect, but I quote one verse here:

      Darkness covers outside
      but I'm not done
      with the day yet.
      Like an unlit candle
      it sits in my mind
      its sense of being
      not fulfilled, not defined.

In this chapbook, Alex Ates Haywood explores his emotions with honesty and courage, allowing readers to walk a mile in his shoes. These poems are pieces of Haywood's heart and spirit. A poet can give no greater gift than that." - Laurel Johnson, Midwest Book Review