Cincy has poets and you don’t even know it.
Confidence and doubt: Earl Budd By Mr. C

Now we don’t (until now) review books in Cincy Vibe. We had to write about this book though. “Confidence and Doubt” by Cincinnati native Earl Budd was self-published in 2009. The back cover reads “This book of poetry may, in some respects, raise your confidence, in others, promote a bit of doubt. It may put you to sleep or it may possibly give you reasons for being wider awake.” However it inspires you, you’ll need to read it to find out.
No book reviews in 5 years? Why this book? Why now? First, how often do you see a local resident self publish a life’s work written purely in poetry? Second, if you did would you even read it? We did. It was well worth the read too. What’s cool about the book is you can just pick it up, flip to any page and read. No need to keep your place or commit to a reading session. Most poems are just a dozen lines or so. The content comes from Earl Budd’s long life experience, love won and lost, fond remembrances of romance, faith, adventures, self reflection and much loved animals. The latter featured a poem that really reflected a view we share with Earl.

TO SLAY THE DEER
Sorry men,
I cannot be your macho peer
If I’m required to slay the deer;
If I am hungry, maybe so,
In desperation I raise my bow,
But do not ask me be the sort
That fells the gentle beast for sport.

Another poem that fit our feeling of these fall leaves was this diddy about leaving the cold behind and going where the weather suits your clothes.

GETTING ANSY
My sweet heart, she and I are getting ansy;
We’re getting ansy, once again, to meet the road.
We’re eager for the mountain tops,
For lingering at nature stops;
We’re in that nestless, restless sort of mode.

My sweeheart, she and I are kind of boring;
I mean we’re boring to the folks who sit at home.
Our pleasure is to move about,
To ramble on a southern route,
And then to west, in weather best, we roam.

My sweetheart, she and I are kind of cuddly;
If we were not our motorhome would be a chore.
If needy of our personal space
We’d never travel any place,
And then be cuddly less, not cuddly more.

As you can see by these excerpts, Earl’s talent shines bright in his self published book. It’s his life’s work. To quote the cover; “My first book of poetry My last book of poetry”. It’s a book worth reading too. It’s even worthy of a coveted “required reading” spot on a college class syllabus. Hark! All ye sweater donned professors at U.C. and NKU. Hark the call of your literary neighbor’s lonely voice! Hark the voice of the singular yet impressive tongue. Lend your ear and free the time to absorb the self published, which perhaps may hold more merit than you’d have easily issued at first glance. Indeed, distinguish yourself from your gentlemen peers, stand proudly and read aloud from your own copy of a wise old man’s memoirs, I do propose you shall decide to share it’s emotion and enlighten your student’s dry spongy minds with the wet wisdom, the soaking sadness, the joy and precious pain of life, the intuitive reflection contained therein.
Instruct the youth to look past the coveted copies of Keating but alas, look within their fair city too, into the side streets and suburbs, and behind the landscaped lawns to discover the talent that resides within. The artist next door. For there lie the folks who broke the rules. The stock swelled bellies of the New York publishing beasts cannot digest this jewel. Thus it’s light would be doomed to reside in darkness. Illumination never shared. But behold! The light is loose in Cincinnati, it shines bright for you to bask in. Grasp it and be thankful that there are those who were driven, determined to be heard, and willing to pay handsomely to do so. Here they are.
Here it is. This is Confidence and Doubt, Earl Budd, an 81 year old Cincinnati man’s life work in 233 pages, $10.
Students, we offer this, Earl’s insight on youth and time. Listen closely, for this is true. It may not appear so now, but it sure will soon.

TIME
One day amidst your gait and grind,
You may awake too soon to find
That youth and zest, and passion for
The daily race, the cloud-high soar
Now barely floats above the floor.

It is this middle ground to watch,
Shall you try take it up a notch,
Or do you ride the tide of time
To be the jester, act the mime,
To halt the march, to quit the climb?

Time is like the horse that lumbers,
Oblivious to rank and numbers,
And then, when it is almost there,
A victim of it’s laissez-faire,
It tries to sprint and gets nowhere.

So if you are of youthful age,
Still edging toward the front of stage,
You best had cease your mind of stalling;
Get on your feet and stop your crawling,
The curtain, even now, is falling.

A very special thanks to Earl Budd for sharing his work with us, allowing us to print these excerpts and most of all for inspiring people to buck the odds, ignore the nay sayers and fulfill your goals what ever they may be. How ever long it takes. You’re never too old, if you’re young at heart.
To get your own copy of Confidence and Doubt Contact us here at Cincy Vibe and we’ll make sure you get a copy, $12 with local shipping.