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ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF

 ANOTHER WAY  

Poems derived from the Tao Te Ching

by David B. Axelrod

(62 pages. 5 x 7. Perfect bound. Karma Dog Editions

Boulder,  Colorado, 2005.)

Click here for   

by David B. Axelrod

  CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR ANOTHER WAY  

David Axelrod is a rare individual among American letters, a distinguished writer, inspirational teacher, and a Fulbright poet. Absurd, maddening, sagely, Another Way explores Taoism in a completely American context, offering it's reader a panoply of original wisdom. Anthony Guilbert, Publisher of Karma Dog Editions.

Another Way is very readable, filled with insights and wisdom that fully deserve to be regarded as a Daoist sensibility with a modern poetic voice."  Dr. Chad Hansen, Chair Professor of Chinese Philosophy, Hong Kong University and author of A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought.

 It's a pleasure to see a poet in maturity still reaching out, as David Axelrod does here with wit and humor, insight and just enough lyric grace to keep you reading.  This little epic practices delight.  Allen Planz, fisherman, guide, and journalist, author of Sea Dune: Selected Poems.

Another Way works well on a number of levels--as advice for daily life; as poetry, and as  a pleasing modern turn on ancient wisdom. Overall, it is a lofty vision--one which would be beneficial to anyone who reads it.  Swami Anand Veetkam (Dr. Robert Schenck, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist)

David Axelrod, in Another Way, based on the Tao Te Ching, has come up with a most novel and compelling take on the great Taoist classic. The writing throughout is rightfully natural and full of surprises.  Lucien Stryk, poet, translator of Chinese and Japanese Zen poetry.

David Axelrod's Another Way is a wonderful, distinctly American treatment of the ancient Taoist classic. His skills as a poet are clear, and his understanding of the philosophy is remarkably strong. Master Tseng Yun-Xiang, Taoist Priest and Director of the Chinese-American Enrichment Association.

The poetry has a very personal feeling about life, and so is not subject to debate per se.  Folks will be attracted to that poetry which resonates with them and speaks to their experience. Carl Abbott, Center for Taoist Thought and Fellowship.  

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ABOUT THIS BOOK  

            This book is a major departure for me from my usual style of writing which is, itself, very much in the American grain. I view it as much as a"self-help" book for me and for others as a new book of poems. Most contemporary poetry is imagistic and modern poetry teaches us to show the reader--to find a suitable object to describe that will convey emotions--not to tell the reader. Clearly, these poems talk directly to the subject.

            The style is derived from my nearly fifty years of reading the Tao Te Ching, translated The Way and Itand here treated as a series of short poems revealing a better way to live one's life. That does not make this book"Taoist, " however, as it is also strongly influenced by a life-long study of Eastern Philosophy and Buddhism, Yoga and more broadly, comparative religions.

            The actual poems evolved over a three year period of my wishing to respond in a more contemporary voice to each of the eighty-one parts of that essential Taoist text. Though I have studied Chinese enough to "make my way in the streets, " I never learned to read it so this does not pretend to be in any way a translation. By reading at least four very fine translations, however, I do feel I have captured something that could be a suitable "interpretation."

            There are, thankfully, so many "ways." I would hope my own is at least a pleasing alternative. As I wrote, I thought what a contemporary equivalent might be for such advice as "how to rule a country" and as often substituted advice on parenting or being the "boss." I have substituted a teacher's view for that of a master's. I have tried to keep the language plain but interesting. I feel some "irreverence"--or at least a sense of humor--is also necessary, lest we view life too rigidly!

            Most of all, I hope you enjoy these. Peace & Poetry!

                                    David B. Axelrod  (8/2004)   

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One

This moment is unlike any other moment.

Don't even say how it is similar.

Differences are our strength.

Similarities are ten thousand reasons not to try.

Without meaning one sees the possibilities.

Logic only leads to longing why.

Just being completes what came before--

the present and the past, 

now without before, 

the opening of our future.  

"One" of  eighty poems derived from readings of Eastern Philosophy and the Tao Te Ching by David B. Axelrod

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photo by Max Schwartz

David B. Axelrod has studied Eastern culture and philosophy, Buddhism and Taoism, since his teens. His own teachers include, Dr. William Young, Master Tseng Yun-Xiang, Swami Anand Veetkam and Dr. Yan Xin. Axelrod is recipient of three Fulbright awards including a year in China as Fulbright's first official poet-in-residence. There he studied Chinese philosophy and alternative healing as well as lecturing on "Chi and the Healing Power of Poetry."

            As an author he has published in hundreds of periodicals in print and on-line, as well as sixteen books of poetry. In addition to his four college degrees, he holds certificates from the International Yan Xin Qi Gong Scientific Association; the American Poetry Therapy Association and in hypnotherapy. Dr. Axelrod has studied Yoga, Tai Chi, Taoist and Zen meditation. His credentials are available at: http://www.poetrydoctor.org