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FOUND LOST FOUND LOST: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems
226 pages, Paperback
Published May 29, 2025
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August 5, 2025
Found this book the other day at some fast-food joint, don't remember which, I was just taking a break and getting something to eat when I saw this sitting on the seat of a corner booth.
I like the way it's laid out, short stories first, poems last. The table of contents give you page numbers so you can find what you're looking for. And I like that he started the book with two short, heart tugging stories.
I suppose he could have been a bit clearer with the title of the first story, "The Bat" with "The Baseball Bat", but in the end it doesn't matter. And clearly this was written before the days of cell phones and computers. Reminds me of when I was young and long-distance charges meant something. The heartbreak of losing a friend due to divorce was all too real back then and though I never experienced that, I could still feel the pain in the characters.
The second story "The Waste" is a story that perhaps too many educators might be able to relate to. It must be frustrating to spend as much time as educators do to help their students only to see them either not get the help they need, or not accept that help offered, only to end up with their life cut short.
The next two stories "The Knight Wore Black", and "The Princess and the Dragon" are clearly children's stories. But I enjoyed them. It was nice to see both the male and female Main Characters treated as equals. Both strong, intelligent, independent but also open to finding the right partners. The author treated both with respect and dignity and produced two good stories that could easily be read aloud to a child for a bedtime story.
The next story "Passing Through" may be the weakest of the bunch. I thought he had two too many characters, and the antagonist was someone I was hoping would leave the safety of the building and get washed away in the storm. I think it's called "a moment in time" story and I admit I wouldn't mind a follow up to see how the two characters who stayed behind after the storm faired in that small Texas town, but I could have skipped this one.
"Damsel" and "Wayward" seem to be from the same vein of thought. Both have a religious bent to them, and both focus on a female character who either has strayed from her belief "Wayward" or doesn't seem to have a firm religious belief "Damsel". Both are well written, and I was captivated with the story in "Damsel" (I read it twice). If I had paid for this book, this would have made it worth every penny.
"The Remains of Duncan Cody Green" was a truly fascinating tale of revenge and vengeance. There is enough detail to get you into the mind of the victim, (and it's not who you might think) as they exact their own brand of justice. While a more cerebral tale than one might expect for a story of revenge, the open debate about justice, right and wrong, I felt was compelling and, in our society, today, maybe even needed.
I won't drone on about the poetry, but I will say this; this poet has had his heart broken. Not all the poems are about love lost, but many are, and while I think he could have taken some time to refine a few of them, there is a mixture of free verse and rhyming poems, the rawness of the emotions can excuse some of the rough edges you encounter in the reading.
Overall, I recommend you get this book. Or, at least hope you can stumble across a copy laying on a fast-food restaurant booth seat.
I like the way it's laid out, short stories first, poems last. The table of contents give you page numbers so you can find what you're looking for. And I like that he started the book with two short, heart tugging stories.
I suppose he could have been a bit clearer with the title of the first story, "The Bat" with "The Baseball Bat", but in the end it doesn't matter. And clearly this was written before the days of cell phones and computers. Reminds me of when I was young and long-distance charges meant something. The heartbreak of losing a friend due to divorce was all too real back then and though I never experienced that, I could still feel the pain in the characters.
The second story "The Waste" is a story that perhaps too many educators might be able to relate to. It must be frustrating to spend as much time as educators do to help their students only to see them either not get the help they need, or not accept that help offered, only to end up with their life cut short.
The next two stories "The Knight Wore Black", and "The Princess and the Dragon" are clearly children's stories. But I enjoyed them. It was nice to see both the male and female Main Characters treated as equals. Both strong, intelligent, independent but also open to finding the right partners. The author treated both with respect and dignity and produced two good stories that could easily be read aloud to a child for a bedtime story.
The next story "Passing Through" may be the weakest of the bunch. I thought he had two too many characters, and the antagonist was someone I was hoping would leave the safety of the building and get washed away in the storm. I think it's called "a moment in time" story and I admit I wouldn't mind a follow up to see how the two characters who stayed behind after the storm faired in that small Texas town, but I could have skipped this one.
"Damsel" and "Wayward" seem to be from the same vein of thought. Both have a religious bent to them, and both focus on a female character who either has strayed from her belief "Wayward" or doesn't seem to have a firm religious belief "Damsel". Both are well written, and I was captivated with the story in "Damsel" (I read it twice). If I had paid for this book, this would have made it worth every penny.
"The Remains of Duncan Cody Green" was a truly fascinating tale of revenge and vengeance. There is enough detail to get you into the mind of the victim, (and it's not who you might think) as they exact their own brand of justice. While a more cerebral tale than one might expect for a story of revenge, the open debate about justice, right and wrong, I felt was compelling and, in our society, today, maybe even needed.
I won't drone on about the poetry, but I will say this; this poet has had his heart broken. Not all the poems are about love lost, but many are, and while I think he could have taken some time to refine a few of them, there is a mixture of free verse and rhyming poems, the rawness of the emotions can excuse some of the rough edges you encounter in the reading.
Overall, I recommend you get this book. Or, at least hope you can stumble across a copy laying on a fast-food restaurant booth seat.
Displaying 1 of 1 review