Böcker av Maurice Siegel

Anything Goes is a compilation of my feelings and observations of the world around me by the use of poems, plays, and essays. It expresses my personal views of what is, what should be, and what is wished for to come about.

Why does poetry continue to exist? It does not deliver information to solve problems or assist in helping with problems. Facts have no usefulness for rhyming couplets. We live our lives in comfort when we solve tangible problems effectively. Facts usually have some built into it reward system. That is, until we seek a closer communion with ourselves living in a world made to be separate from us. It is a world where not seeking of competitive advantages, that emotional world within, leads to being struck by some indefinable satisfaction to be trusted. It brings approval for the arts in their many forms. For me, the most beautiful of them is poetry, making words, when read, into sounds equal to the power of singing by using much the same rhythmic repeats but to be accomplished without need of voice or ears and to be more easily remembered ever after throughout a lifetime with the same emotional impact, and, sometimes more so as deeper understanding evolves with time.

Unlike words of a novel where the author may wish to inform the reader of unspoken but intended feelings for the reader, the author adds an aside with additional lines. Such asides in a play will cause the listener's building emotional connection to get diminished. But it is the double purpose with the words spoken that produce both information and emotion, each with their separate purposeful existences struggling with each other at the very same moment. That is so fascinating in plays and makes me want to try my best at this art form.

In a very different direction, wanting to measure a cherished love between two people, I chose a setting, in 'Death Is Blind', where Death is an equal protagonist. For the action of those people who are at their best in observing others as much inferior to them in quality of thoughtfulness, I chose the interfacing of a self satisfied, 'good' person up against an airy, somewhat confused seeker of a spiritual connection to reality, when it is just the opposite that lies at the base of each of their souls in 'The Long Fall From Grace'. In the play, 'The Last Great Fantasy', I would imagine that our highest wishes for ourselves could still come about when we no longer have chance to make an impact upon humanity and yet still wishing to remain determined to make our mark before we are to disappear forever.