A Thousand Paper Thoughts

Life viewed as a skiff slicing through water. A picture purchased by a man who has no wall on which to hang it. A celebration of many missteps. In this ruminative, refreshing collection of poetry, Jim Steele gathers decades of meditations and musings ranging from the epic to the everyday.

A Thousand Paper Thoughts: poems from an ordinary mind covers all manner of emotion, laying bare the joys and sorrows of human existence in a style that is simple in its voice, yet striking in its candor. Written in an intimate tone, many of the works read as if the poet were sharing his thoughts over a cup of coffee. Throughout, this largely autobiographical collection mines Steele's gamut of experiences, from the loss of love to the words of advice he would offer his younger self.

With heart, honesty, and faith, A Thousand Paper Thoughts reveals the rich terrain of a man who calls himself ordinary, yet has ample capacity to marvel at the love and grace within him that is far from commonplace. Anyone who treasures well-chosen words of wisdom from one man's life will value this elegant expression of the peaks and valleys of everyday living.