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13 Printable PDF Books Written by Alan Harris
Plus a Calendar
These downloads are free for personal printing and binding | |
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New Book: Sometimes a Glimpse | Download Poems of Spiritual Inquiry (831 KB, 39 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Selected from the entire collection for relevance to spiritual inquiries and experiences, these poems seek understanding of issues beyond the mind yet strongly felt. They follow no denomination or established religion, yet may be found to be relevant to nearly anyone's spiritual questionings. |
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Night Light | Download A Collection of Nocturnal Poems (604 KB, 31 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents These poems, all having to do with night, examine some of those strange but real feelings that can accompany darkness. A few are humorous (like "Santa's Interior Monologue" and "To Sleep") but the others give respect and homage to mysterious sounds and sights that come in the night. |
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Christmas Reflections | Download Poems and humor (1.9 MB, 17 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents The poems, humor, and pathos here are out-of-the-ordinary probings into the spirit of this potent holiday season. You may relate to the near-silence of snow falling on snow, to the despair at having lost a loved one, or to the quiet majesty of a manger scene. Enjoy a tongue-in-cheek Christmas FAQ and probe below Scrooge's anti-Christmas crust to the hurting human within. |
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2008 Daily Ponderable Calendar
365 Original Ponderables by Alan Harris (PDF: 59KB - 12 pages) This 12-page calendar for 2007 contains the entire collection of 365 ponderables -- short observations which sometimes jab, sometimes console, sometimes complain a little, and often celebrate. Written over a period of about 20 years, this collection is yours for the price of printing 12 sheets of paper and finding a way to bind them. You may download this calendar in either portrait or landscape orientation to fit the space available. The portrait version's font comes out a bit larger. Calendars for 2006 are still available here -- click the above drop-down box. |
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Fireflies Don't Bite | Download Poems of 2002 (364K, 27 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents These poems bow to the spirit of the firefly, which emits light without needing (or even being able) to bite. Recurring themes are reconciliation, understanding, healing, and new directions. Special thanks go to Mia Aasbakken of Norway for permission to use her art on the book's cover. |
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Ponderables All Year | Download A Birthday Book of Original Aphorisms (5.4 MB, 83 pages, double-sided format: print odd-numbered pages, then even on reverse) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents This birthday book collects some of my uncollected thinking and provides you with a space beside each day of the year for collecting the uncollected birthdays of your friends and relatives. Included are 365 of my ponderables, one for each day of the year, which range from the unabashedly wacky to the exploringly spiritual. Twelve of my seasonal poems appear here, one at the beginning of each month, and the book is decorated with my color photography. |
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Being Well | Download Poems of empathy and support w/photos (6.6 MB, 42 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Things go wrong. We suffer. Misfortune can cripple our bodies, frazzle our emotions, or fog our intellects. At times like these, empathy and support from others can be not only a comfort but a stimulus toward healing. 36 poems with photos. Please don't expect lightness and humor in these poems. They don't cajole, but they do invite serious thought. |
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Lessons Out of School | Download Ten droll anecdotes from childhood (1.0 MB, 15 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Growing up in a small Illinois town was neither as safe nor as dull as one might suppose. Intended for both musing and amusement, each of these ten anecdotes not only tells a story but also concludes with a lesson learned outside of school. Some of the lessons repeat themselves in different stories. |
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Carpet Flights | Download Poems of 2001 (1.4 MB, 40 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Each of these 34 poems can be felt as a carpet flight into an emotional area or era. There are three healing meditations and an encouraging poem entitled "After a Mostness of Hurt' for those who are waiting out pain. "A Hidden Sky" and "Leaf Dance" accentuate the whimsical with their close-up glimpses of neighborhood nature. |
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Just Below Now | Download Poems of 2000 (1.8 MB, 38 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Of these 33 poems, "Prayer for 2000" and "Benediction for 2000" celebrate the beginning and end of the year in solemn, thankful tones. "Freedom Grounded" explores free will, error, and consequences. "Quiet" is an invitation to anyone who feels major stress to see if just sitting quietly may ease life a bit. |
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Flies on the Ceiling | Download Poems of 1999 (1.9 MB, 18 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents 1999 was the year of millennial fear for many. Of the 13 poems in this book, "A Millennial Date" and "A Haiku Quilt for Y2K" address the year's prevailing uncertainties. "Shopping Cheap" takes jabs at the hollowness of shopping in a huge discount store. "Graduation" is a poetic snapshot of a typical graduate's relief and uncertainty. |
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Knocking on the Sky | Download Poems of 1997-1998 (3.1 MB, 25 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents These 18 poems address metaphysical and theological questions obliquely and suggestively. "Five Definings" takes on "Sky," "Earth", "Heaven," "Hell," and "Friendship," allowing 6 short lines to define each. "Passing Through" suggests that we can relax our hold on "things" to ease our sojourn on earth. |
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Heartclips | Download Poems of 1996 (1.4 MB, 31 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents What your heart may feel or do with these 26 poems is up to you. Many of them approach the topic of love: "Analogies for Love," "Good Friday," "On Leaning," "seeing you," "Walk," "War Baby," "Washing Windows," and "A Younger Friend." Grief and healing are addressed in "Griefs That Stay" and "Sharing Copedom." |
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Writing All Over the World's Wall | Download Poems and Aphorisms of 1995 (2.6 MB, 29 pages) Front Cover | Back Cover | Contents Much of this book is devoted to humor and whimsy, but there are some introspective poems here, too. Aphorisms included in "Needlework" were first published in Thinker's Daily Ponderable and haven't worn out yet. "A Wiggy Sopsty" is a puzzling poem consisting of mostly made-up words, but it scans and rhymes. |
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