Footlocker

about Time: Poems and Other Stories is the first in a series of collections of works spanning over fifty years of creation by poet, novelists, singer, picker, sculptor, spirit-drummer Robert Nichols. To his readers, Robert would say, "If you don't understand this, it isn't poetry." He believes the artist must connect with the audience for art to happen. Thus it is that he has strived to give his stories, reflections, and musings about matters primal, personal, and Cosmic an intimate, arching leap to the universal-from one heart to all the hearts in the world. "Dear Reader, if these poems and tales don't get you laughing, crying, and contemplating the giddy-vast sweet sorrows and joys of your own life, I've wasted my life writing them." And, about time… Time is just rhythm, you know. / It's hours, sun, and seasons. / The pulse of a song, / a heart, / lifetimes. // Tap you toes, / maybe dance to it. / Enjoy.

about Mountain Living Summary A journey told in story and poem. A life trek from discontent and restlessness to commitment and discovery. You know, the 'way' we all should seek-the path to self-actualization. For me, my 'way' began with timeclock toil and its shackles of security and comfort. But, due to a quirk in life trajectory when I was fifteen, instead of an accountant or a tool-and-die maker, I became a poet. Well, this poet gave normalcy a try for a couple of decades and then headed west from urban flatlands and up into the wilds of the Rocky Mountains. This work tells of a succession of habitats and life styles progressing farther and farther from the city and further into a better destiny-from apartment to cabin to tipi to hilltop shrine of art, nature, and spirit. A journey from complacent certainty to out-on-the-edge primal survival. Man was it cold and lonely 10,000 feet up the side of a mountain. Cold, raw and-WOW!-the pure stuff of fear, bliss, and laughter. Just what this poet needed to become himself. So, what does all this have to do with you? Plenty. There are many journeys we all take-treks through phases of our lives: some intellectual, some emotional, and all in some way are spiritual. So, don't worry. You don't have to build a tipi, sleep in an arctic sleeping bag with a 12-gauge shotgun beside you, or bathe in a glacial stream to find your better self in this lifetime. Find your own mountains, your own turning paths, you own regions of fear, reverence and, hoot-to-the-Heavens celebration. Find yourself. Perhaps my story will encourage yours. And, oh yeah, beyond the tale I tell, just read the poems and stories as the art they are intended to be. You will laugh and weep and contemplate-you will be changed.

about Seasons-the Wind and Weather of Our Days: Celebrating Fear and Feeling Alive, is the third in the Footlocker Series of books. These works are a gathering of over fifty years of poetry and prose written by me, Robert Nichols. When I write, I seek to express what is most intimate in my experience in terms that reach a world of readers with universal connection. I'm not the only one out here who gets giddy with the chilled promise of autumn and the lusting energies of spring. And it's not just some cliché sweetness about leaves and blossoms either. This is the core stuff of being. Seasons, wind, and weather-the fierce and beautiful power of Nature can keep us humble and exhilarated throughout our lives. It is the very "life and death" intensity of these metamorphic cycles that excites the turning of our years with risk and wonder. Time takes away our days, storms wash away our safety, seasons etch our flesh with danger. Old Spirits out on the plains once told me, "Earth shall never be tame… Celebrate your fear and feel you are alive!" Yes! So, read my poems and join me in celebration of these blessings of flesh and blood and spirit that are, "… the most primal of elements-weather and winds and waters and all-the context of our sublime journeys through mundane moments."