I've been writing poems since grade school, the usual ordeals that grade
schoolers must endure in English Literature.
Charlie and Fred were two cats adopted by my family in Sherwood Park,
Alberta. My Stepfather, Eugene Steinhauer, brought the kittens home after a
field trip and they stayed with us for about a year. My mother, Alice, became
concerned when she witnessed Charlie jump into my arms when I returned home
from school. She may have thought the cats were distracting me from human
friends, particularly girls. Shortly thereafter, my brother Leon mysteriously invited me to a local playground, when we returned, Charlie and Fred were gone.
Fred and Charlie
I began to write poems for my own pleasure at Salisbury Composite High
School, Sherwood Park, Alberta, where a collection of my poetry "Here Lies
Charles Fredrik" was assembled and printed. Except for my self portrait, all
of the graphic artwork for the volume was contributed by Salisbury art
students, production was contributed by Salisbury business students.
Two hundred signed copies of "Here Lies Charles Fredrik" were placed for
sale June 1972.
One poem from "Here Lies Charles Fredrik", "Dialogue" was published in
"Listen! Songs and Poems of Canada" by Homer Hogan, Methuen (1972) ISBN-10:
0458909009, ISBN-13: 978-0458909001. In "Dialogue" there is only one question,
and only one answer.
