Bill Copeland – Author of Relik the Copper Ax

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Relik Book Cover

Bill Copeland, Book of Poetry

Through Cosmic Swan, you have gotten to know Bill Copeland, writer of science fiction; now you can meet Bill Copeland, poet.

His book of poetry, Line of Absurdity, is available in paperback. Subtitled "Between Logic and Silicon Valley Dreams," these poems have accumulated since the 1960s. They take the reader to the doors of dreams hidden between sleeping and waking.

Cover by Bill Copeland

Throw away your Silicon Valley logic. Let your mind enjoy the perfume of the absurd. Go back before we were growing silicon chips to the orchards of cherries, walnuts, and almonds and the fields of corn.

Selected Poems

The Maritime Advisor

John was an old man
Who lived by the sea
Though he'd never been out in a boat
Nevertheless
He gave advice free
On sailing all ships that can float
On jibes and tacking
On anchors and grounding
On navigation before GPS
In reports that he wrote
John spared not a quote
On how to sail with success
He felt quite manly
Though he had no family
No brother, no parrot, no spouse
Yet he wrote without tiring
Of naval cannon firing
While snug under stone in his house
John's face wasn't tan
He ate fish from a can
And owned no waterproof coat
In winter he refrained
From the town when it rained
Stayed on his hill quite remote
It flooded one year
Igniting his fear
So he built up a fire quite hot
But the people of the town
Climbed up to his ground
Through landslides and downpours, they
Fought
They poured into his door
Dripping wet on the floor
Begging to get warm by his fire
John screamed at the wet
He told them to get
Showed his most terrible ire
John's mind in a daze
He backed to the blaze
And roared at the river of men
Shivering with cold
Their manner grew bold
They pressed him again and again
Fearful to touch
Real water, he clutched
The edge of the fireplace railing
Drawn to the flame, John went quite insane
And into the fire went sailing

sailboat


Birth of a Grandchild

Your chalice of days stands gold
Pours out its first drips
On your thirsty pink lips
Pours honey your mother can hold
A new twist in the helix of genes
Snatched from the baby pool
Galaxy's jewel
Fulfilling your parents' sweet dreams
Your heritage scattered behind
A twisted trail of crime in the dark tunnel of time
Can't taint your open fresh mind
Wake your dreams with persistence
Don't be deterred by fate's fence
Climb, climb’ till your dreams make sense
Though wounded by cruel innocence
A smile in the wilderness,
Step, misstep over raging streams
Meeting people of mind-twisting schemes
Who press for a dance with your dreams
I
Grandfather
A lonely fisherman
Have only bait box and hooks to give
Just live
Bait a hook
Cast your line into this raging stream, and the next
Many colorful and tasty fish
Thrash along your way
Forever

grandfather teaching grandson how to fish

diamond on a rock

sunrise over the earthThe story is set in central Europe 5300 years ago from the northern alps of Italy to the eastern lands along the Danube River to Vinca, the earliest European Bronze Age civilization. Otzi is the chieftain of a south Tyrollean late stone age tribe scrounging for a living in the high mountains. To support his village he travels by foot to trade with the people on the north side of the mountains. He returns after a long trip to his family and village with a big backpack full of goods, his wife Mara tells him the wheat fields has failed. He and his son Anise must hunt to get through the winter.

As a youth he took a trip he took down the Danube to Vinca where he met his father’s brother and family who prospered raising goats, farming, and hunting. There meets his first wife, joins the hunting for the huge wild bison, and is told the secret of smelting copper, given a few small copper ore stones to help him find more. He brought his bride back up the Danube but she died during the birth of his son Anise.

Desperate to find a way to support his family after the failed wheat crop, he searched the neighborhood for copper ore but found none. A northerner agrees to get copper ore from Tuscany in the south and trade for goats. With the good ore he is able to make copper, but the copper has never been seen before, is regarded as evil knowledge, and results in a fight to save his life from the judgement of the shaman.

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