The Kiss and other poems

Now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

A hundred ways to say “I love you”—without using those exact words.

The epic poem ‘The Kiss’, recounts, humorously, the myth of the creation of that destiny of every smitten heart, the Kiss: a Homeric soap-opera of the ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses conniving to leave their mark on its personality while vying for control of that ephemeral bundle of sweetness, irresistibility and earth-trembling passion in hopes of winning the battle over its inevitable release to the world of men. It is a tale which leaves no doubt that every day is a day incomplete until a Kiss, or two, finds you.

An excerpt:

As soon as Cupid had the Kiss,
he wished to give it back.
His wings were dragging on the ground
as he whimpered on Pan’s lap:
“Every nymph to whom I give one
just wants more and more and more.
Now the line runs ’round the block.
I can’t use my front door!”

Pan, doubting his ears, coughed and Momused
Delphically: “That’s quite a chore!”

Along with ‘The Kiss,” you will find in this book a collection of the author’s best-loved poems, prose, sonnets, and sayings.

About the Author:

Born in Philadelphia to a family of farmers and tinkerers, Roy Hildestad pursued a career in engineering and math, spending his free time skiing, sailing, diving, canoeing, and generally taking up any sport having to do with water in any of its forms. Secretly, nurturing a life-long fascination with literature, poetry and ancient history, he memorized tens of thousands lines of the great poetry of all ages and, on occasion, wrote short poems as gifts or records of ideas. After raising three wonderful sons and retiring, that fascination, now without the supervision of the alarm clock and deadline, usurped the rule of Good Sense and began to get completely out of hand. The Kiss was the result.