Life Lines

Life Lines: Selected Poems 1990-2009 is a collection of 201 poems representing nearly two decades of work by acclaimed upstate New York poet, Charles James. A natural maverick, James learned through life's experiences that purpose and meaning are within the person, not 'œout there somewhere.'� Charlie, as he's known to friends, says 'œjubilation and grief are all part of living.'� Led to poetry by his grandfather, Charlie wrote 'œabominable trash'� for too long. 'œNow I try and I do with no way of knowing how.'�As for his 6-1/2 years in federal courts to affirm his Ist Amendment rights, he only shrugs. He wonders what makes others ask if he'd do it again. 'œImpossible,'� he says. 'œAny more than I can stick my foot in the same stream twice. There is no again. Everything in life is once.'�James' poems express life's lessons with urgency and beauty, making his work stand with the best of contemporary free verse.