The Strawberry Moon

Product Description These prose-poems are a meditation on the human spirit, the natural world, and mystical enlightenment. The author s related works are: The Silence of Blackberries The Simultaneous Mountain: Essays on Poetry and Mysticism The Dancing Dragon Poems Twofold Consciousness: Poetry and Essays on Mysticism Letters to Buddha Native Americans named the first full moon of the month after the primary characteristic of that month. Strawberries are the earliest fruit to ripen, thus the name of the moon. On June 20, 2016, the summer solstice and the full moon coincided, the first time that has happened since 1948. In England, the strawberry moon is called the rose moon. In China, it s called the lotus moon. I think the only odd word used in the paragraphs is noumenon (including the forms noumena and noumenal ) which points to a physical reality beyond our five senses, experientially unknowable though comprehendible rationally. I often use the word as a synonym for the reality experienced during enlightenment. This definition is from The New Oxford American Dictionary: noumenon in Kantian philosophy, a thing as it is in itself, as distinct from a thing as it is knowable by the senses through phenomenal attributes. A brief explanation might be necessary for my viewpoint on the human psyche: 1) the bodily self with its memories and intentional states; 2) consciousness of phenomena, shared by degrees with all animate life; 3) self-consciousness and the symbolic representation of reality unique to us as human beings; and 4) pure consciousness, which is the mental capability for experiencing the noumena of reality. About the Author Victor Marshall Depta Date of Birth: March 20, 1939 124 East Todd Street Frankfort, KY 40601-3504 Place of Birth: Accoville, WV victordepta1@gmail.com 502-330-3707 B.A., 1965, Marshall University M.A., 1968, San Francisco State University Ph.D., 1972, Ohio University Teaching: UT Martin,1972-2000 Marshall Univ, 2000-2008 Books of Poetry: The Creek (Ohio University Press, 1973) The House (New Rivers Press, 1978) A Doorkeeper in the House (Ion Books, 1993) The Helen Poems (Ion Books, 1994) The Silence of Blackberries (Blair Mountain Press, 1999) Preparing a Room (Blair Mountain Press, 2001) Azrael on the Mountain (Blair Mountain Press, 2002) The Little Henry Poems (Blair Mountain Press, 2005) An Afterthought of Light (Blair Mountain Press, 2007) The Dancing Dragon Poems (Blair Mountain Press, 2010) Poems: What Love Is (Blair Mountain Press, 2013) Letters to Buddha (Blair Mountain Press, 2015) A West Virginia Trilogy: Novels (Blair Mountain Press, 2004) House of the Moon (BMP, 2008) Dramatic Works: Plays From Blair Mountain: Four Comedies (BMP, 2000) Mountain and Clouds: Four Comedies (BMP, 2003) Essays: The Simultaneous Mountain: Essays on Poetry and Mysticism (BMP, 2005) Twofold Consciousness: Poetry and Essays on Mysticism (BMP, 2012) Memoir: Brother and Sister (BMP, 2011) Magazine publication: 180 poems in literary journals 7 stories in literary journals 10 essays in literary journals Plays: Theatreworks: Semi-finalist, The Rainbow Gave You Birth, 1990 West Coast Ensemble: Finalist, The Rainbow Gave You Birth, 1992 Cleveland Public Theater: Semi-finalist, The Star-Painted House, 1993 Academy Theatre: Two-night public reading, The Rainbow Gave You Birth, 1993 Southeastern Theatre Conference New Play Project: Finalist,A Flood Upon the Earth, 1994 National Repertory Theatre Foundation: Finalist:The Rainbow Gave You Birth, 1995 Mill Mountain Theatre: Semi-finalist,The Rainbow Gave You Birth, 1997 Production: Thirty performances of two plays, Every One Who Thirsts and Egg of the World, at the Barter Theatre, June 12-Aug 4, 2002