West Roaring Brook and Other Poems

PA T R I C K G U I N A N is anunassuming poet who tries to express in avery natural tone and style what he has seenand dreamed or what life as shown him.Speaking of his poetry, Guinan has said. Ihave tried to say a few things about love andlife and our memories of things that make ushappy or sad and I have always tried toexpress these thoughts as simply andhonestly as I know how.In the tradition of William CarlosWilliam, his poems are like little snapshots ofthe past, images or scenes that jar the memory and bring back times and thoughtsthat we all can share. His favorite poets are Frost and E. A. Robinson, Edgar LeeMasters, and Sandburg and their spirits are never far from his thoughts.In his mid sixties, Patrick Guinan, is still a young poet who has found hisvoice and uses it to tell of his favorite memories and lifes best learned lessons.Growing up in small towns in Michigan and Illinois, the father of twogrown children, he spent forty years teaching in Florida with brief stints as apolitician and sports broadcaster. He now spends his time between his winterhome in Bradenton, Florida, and his summer cottage by Northport Bay in thelovely woods of Northern Michigan where he lived his young dreams.