Art and Poetry by Pollock

Life was smooth sailing and quite normal up until my mom Janis was killed in a car accident heading from Santa Cruz California to Carmel when I was 11 years old. After her death, life changed drastically from a nice gentle breeze to a category five tornado; an inferno of drugs, lies and alibis. Let’s just say… No more smooth sailing. When the dust began to settle at the age of 24, I enlisted in the United States Navy and set sail for a better life and once again it was smooth sailing.

Here are some of my experiences, thoughts, and photographs of my artwork which I use as a way to process my childhood traumas.

Processing as I stack stones and transfer the negative energy into a beautiful piece of work giving it life; it lives then eventually dies, taking the negative energy with it.

I hope you feel something from these pages within.

As a Woman Thinketh

Mike Pauro, aka ‘Ajax Moon’ and his daughter, Morgan Deeble, aka ‘Bridey Moon’ remake the aphorism examined by James Allen for women. In this transposition of Allen’s classic, the authors revisit the impact of thought on health, purpose, achievement, ideas, and serenity from the female perspective. The work is accompanied by imagery from early 20th century postcards passed down for generations in their family. The images were selected to be contemporaneous of the era of James Allen (1864-1912).

As Though Nothing Could Fall

Four friends knew the streets better than most. One night, three of them made it back home. One did not.

Michael Bowen, a young detective destined to prove himself, is visiting his father with Alzheimer’s when he gets a phone call that the body of a young boy has been found in a baseball field. His investigation leads him into conflict with Francis Zaccardi; a ruthless criminal who has tortured the community of Boston for decades. The trail that Michael begins to follow becomes brutal around every turn. Along the way, he reluctantly must turn to Francis’s son, Thomas, who is struggling to deal with the death of his friend. A mysterious and daunting thriller, As Though Nothing Could Fall is a novel about familial struggle and the loyalty that comes from every edge of the human consciousness.

Ascendance of Man

Ascendance of Man is the story of Robert “Rocky” Erickson. This unique individual becomes aware in the womb after 17 weeks of conception and grows into a truly remarkable individual, transforming himself and others into empathic individuals.

Through his interactions with others, he eventually affects the way others see themselves and the human race itself.

At the Movies

In At the Movies, follow the story of Garbonzo, a young boy growing up in Vancouver in the 1970s, whose passion for movies leads him on a journey of self-discovery. As he befriends the local film critic and starts sneaking into restricted shows, he develops a love for the works of director Sam Peckinpah and a deeper understanding of the power of cinema. But when he gets caught up with the wrong crowd and ends up in jail, he loses everything, including his love interest and his job at the local theater. Years later, he returns to his hometown to find the theater industry in decline, but is given a chance to save the remaining theaters and make his dreams a reality. At the Movies is a coming-of-age tale that explores the transformative power of cinema on both an individual and a community level.

Atheists and Empty Spaces

The poems in Atheists and Empty Spaces explore the quintessential aspect of humanity – the need of having something in which to believe. Modern humanity attempts to fill the empty spaces in the psyche with emotional and psychological sustenance that was once provided by communal connections, religion, and the worship of deities or even nature.

These poems explore how, in many ways, people have all become atheists because they no longer know how to connect to natural and supernatural forces, and they simply no longer believe in them. Humanity is now lacking a connection to the impulses that once nurtured human desires.

However, the poems also suggest that art can provide a path back to those vital connections. Some poems are simple explorations of personal pain that cannot be soothed. Others are thorough considerations of how warped or misguided humanity’s attempts really are at solving an elusive and unidentified misery. Most of these poems take traditional forms of verse and song, but some find their unique rhythms in contemporary free verse. Others use examples from ancient cultures to comment on contemporary culture while some ideas spring from news headlines of today. Each poem in this collection reflects on the ways that modern humans seek to fill their empty spaces, whether atheist or not.

Attachment Patterns

Is the artist, Robert Boone, crazy? As his daughter, aspiring novelist, Isolde tells us, he sure doesn’t think so. Okay, yes, he recently found himself in the hospital loudly declaring he wanted to die, but that was a moment of unexplained weakness, of post-pandemic exhaustion. He’s fine now, calm, and self-possessed as always. Only the doctors don’t believe him. They’ve insisted he enroll in a three week, out-patient, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program. Which is? “Psychotherapy in which patterns of thought are challenged in order to address unwanted behaviour patterns.” With no choice now, Robert Boone will reluctantly look at his life. In lectures and group sessions, he will examine his past, his unspoken fears and grief and his relationships both old and new. As his daughter, Holdie says: “Anything I tell you from this moment on was disclosed to me, remembered by me, surmised by me and in some cases (okay, more than some) was totally and completely made up. (By me.) Still, all of it is the God’s honest truth.” Is Robert Boone crazy? Isn’t everybody? We’ll find out.

Augers Affair

Harvey Ace is a horseplayer and winner. Santa Anita Park, also known as the Great Race Place, is his favorite haunt. He acquires a top-notch winning filly, but his quirky trainer, John Augers, is suddenly and mysteriously assassinated. Harvey vows to find the killers. He is thrown in the middle of intrigue and madness while protecting his winning racehorse, and a motley crew follows him into the maelstrom. He thrusts deeper into the mysteries of John Augers until, at a lonely home for children, he confronts the lady on the gilded throne and saves the day, and all involved. He is a winner!

Ava Ascending

God is tired of gluttony, tired of greed, tired of the slovenly. He is tired of hypocrisy and Santa Claus prayers, tired of the selfish, tired of the selfless seeking praise. Tired of eons of dedication, of centuries of miracles, of decades of abandonment. Tired of creating worlds, tired of enacting wrath, tired of the doubtful, tired of the diligent. Tired of making all decisions, tired of working, tired of watching, tired of answering, tired of ignoring. Tired of being the Alpha and the Omega, tired of being idolized, tired of worship, tired of requests, tired of thanks, tired of you, tired of me, tired of being the only One.

So he decided to stop. Maybe not forever, but for now, to just stop. Again, that should be where it all ends. Where the cosmos collapses and all living things shrivel and perish in the neglect of a tired God. But it isn’t. He might be tired, but he isn’t positive he is finished. Merely a working father that wants to turn off the laptop, turn off the phone and take a vacation. But how does God do this? He hadn’t ever thought of it, not until that movie where the comedian gets all the powers of God and God gets to rest. So he decides he will too…

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away is a pun on the different states of consciousness, which is open to multifactorial answers. In reality, the observations in the poems leave the readers perhaps with more questions than answers.
The three states of consciousness—awakening, sleeping, and dreaming—hint at the fine line between life and death. The entire book can be seen as a dream.

Awake in Dreams Sleeping Death Away does not try to scientifically claim any truths, but it does attempt to question what we may hold as true. It is more important to experience the poems, rather than to actualize them in an objective manner. No doubt the meaning or truth in these poems, if any can be found, will be organic and morph with each new reader.   

Back to the '50s

Back to the ’50s, a book of poems highlighting life in America during the 1950s by Earlene Green Evans will take you on an exciting trip without luggage or a ticket. After experiencing the ‘good old days,’ you may not want to return to reality. You will stroll the street of an ideal crime-free neighborhood. How about squeezing into a neighbor’s crowded living room to view outrageous, funny comedians or cowboys and Indians on a dinner plate size black and white television screen. You will make an appearance in your stylish poodle skirt with a matching off-shoulder blouse. Then, rack your brains trying to understand the impact of Russia’s Sputnik. Dance to exhaustion with the music of the famous Drifters. Perhaps you just prefer to relax in the cool breeze on a strong tree limb with your favorite book.

Back to the ’50s will definitely rekindle buried feelings, old habits and foggy thoughts of people, places and things in the safe haven of the fabulous ’50s.

Bad Dreams

You’ve heard of what happens when the mind is allowed to wander past its reasonable limits. This is no different. Immerse yourself in a collection of things gone wrong. There is barely any sunshine in a bad dream. All you encounter is tragedy upon tragedy, heaps upon heaps of misfortune mixed with spots of relief.

When you close your eyes, it really is over. While you would wish to wake up, you find that you cannot. For stretches at a time, the mind gives way to limitless wanderings, far from where things make sense. In this place, you encounter the following: creatures called minotaurs who are bent on enslaving humans, the prototype for a car that is way too unsafe, and a unique take on the Fountain of Youth.

Journey with Crispin Jackson as he takes you down paths where no author has ventured before. Imagination is good to run wild.