The inscription on the back cover says it all: "I have not lived in vain but lived for this." Since my Collected Poems were published in 2004, I have lived and learned, loved and lost, and lived to love again. This is the journal of my journey, contained within these three hundred pieces of my heart. This is my best, and never mind the rest.
As the title indicates, I write from my heart to yours, "dancing naked" as it were as I deal with disability and struggle to survive in this house haunted by a hundred years of the colorful history of my strange family.
The poems cover the entire spectrum of human experience from tragedy to triumph, despair to delight, and all my adventures between along the way. I am a wanderer, a lone wolf, an outsider looking in. This is my story, this is my heart in three hundred pieces. I offer it to you with love and the pride of an honest craftsman, in both softcover and collectible hardcover editions:
You speculate on what survives within This shuttered shattered sepulcher you see Where the night does not end nor day begin Where dappled in the twilight shadows play
Stained with the stinging unguent of abuse Descending generations death and sin In living death one soul still flickers there No explanation given nor excuse
Too many things to tell so none to say Tethered by taproot deeply dungeoned where A crust once human to the dust gives way Emily Dickinsonian recluse
You pass by on the sidewalk and know not The tales these darkened windows weep tonight Heavy debt a head-shaking attorney The living bearing what the dead forgot
Birth-broken wings flap their futility Futureless featureless backwards journey Bright sunshine on all sides but here no light There never was nor will there ever be
In rotting graciousness the grave lies deep A black hole where the doomed and damned await Dark ancestors scold from unquiet sleep Unending grief inherited from fate
The ghost which haunts this haunted house is me
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMVI
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Reviews for "Dancing Naked in a Haunted House, Softcover Edition"
Reviewed by xxxxxxx cccccc
12/10/2006
I have read all of the poems in this book and each came as a delectable surprise. This craftsman of the sonnet has skills in all corners of the poetic world. I recommend this and all of Steven's books to you. They are outstanding works of literature and you will not be disappointed. My wish for this poet is that he gains universal recognition for he has a talent that deserves acclaim and support.
Another Intelligent book from you Steve, that will be upon my bookshelf! I have always felt drawn to your style! You speak to my Heart and Soul, with Words I find myself using over and over. YOur Heart is Honest and Divine and I can't wait to buy these books too! Love & Light, WArmly,*She*OXO
Stephen's poetry is a melody of whispers sifted straight from the soul! "Dancing Naked in a Haunted House" is a mixture of observation and deep introspection. The words leave easily followed footprints from a mind that shines with love, honesty and intelligence. This isn't a book full of 'purple prose'. These stanzas are bursting with meaning and brilliance.
"Dancing Naked in a Haunted House" is a brilliant collection of poetry that employs language as an art form. Mister Lance's work about the nature of writing poetry such as "Riding the Riddle" are so insightful that I found myself wishing that I had written them. He finds solace in practicing his craft and should inspire young poets to do the same.
This is a book of free verse poetry that addresses the seven main tests in life and offers some sensible solutions to passing those tests with minimal discomfort.
Contraband Marriage, traveling along the hemline of loving after incarceration, is a love story written in lyric and free form, set in reality with a different ever after.
