Closing in on eight decades of life gives one dramatic pause, a time for a deep breath then a long exhale, realizing how little time is left but grabbing a chance to reflect on all that has gone before; a time when one can stop, listen, take a step back and look around.Following his first book of free verse poetry on the thematic process of growing old, Starts And Stops Along The Way, this new book, Looking Around, is a collection of personal views that lament the injustices, disappointments, fruitless searches for answers, while seeing hope for some tomorrows, gratitude for much, yet still worrying about the direction of a society in which morals, meaning and purpose seem more difficult to find. These are not lecture or judgmental poems, but rather challenges for deeper thinking, for determined efforts to save our planet, to sustain a way of life that has worked well for many, and to improve a way of life for many others placing us all together on a solid road to our future.