In Tribute To Survivors

James Humphrey, Poets Alive Press/White Porcelain, New York, 1984, chapbook

From the Preface: November 1958, I made first attempt at writing a poem. The intention was the define myself in a single piece before starving or freezing to death. I was 17, in poor health, completely destitute, living in the Midwest in bushes and cardboard boxes.

Now, 26 years later, I have been asked to publish a chapbook celebrating my ongoing determination to survive.

Currently, I am writing considerably about other survivors. Since I have been given the generous choice of what will appear here, five of the eight poems are from this current work.

To all Survivors out there doing it in the face of the world's ferocity, this book is happily dedicated. 

That first attempt made 27 years ago is included here, unchanged. It is titled A Fallen Man Searching.

With deepest love and highest respect, I thank my son Saroyan, now 17, for intensifying the poems with his unique pen and ink illustrations.

James Humphrey, February 20th, 1984, Greensboro, NC

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