Shaken By The Thunder:: A Notre Dame Diary

By David L. Coulter

The purpose of this collection is to reveal the poems I wrote when I was in college at the University of Notre Dame from 1965 to 1969. The poems were written to help me understand my thoughts and feelings at the time. They were not written for a class assignment or shared with anyone. I was successful in class but less so in life as I retreated into my notebooks and tried to find my own way. My first goal was to discover what I really believed for myself. I struggled with depression but eventually survived with the help of friends and prayer. I was young and healthy and so started running through the woods and fields around the Notre Dame campus. Hardly anyone else was running back then except for varsity athletes, so it was a solitary and joyful experience that helped me to find peace and solace in nature. I was a biology major learning to love bugs and worms, so nature became my home.. Being a college student in the 1960s also meant I was dealing with the social and political issues of the times, including the Vietnam War, civil rights, the drug scene and the fight for peace and justice. Some of the poems reflect my struggles with those issues.The subtitle indicates that this collection can be considered as a diary, since the poems were written in the privacy of my dorm room and never intended to be seen otherwise. My emotions and experiences were no different from those of many of my classmates and peers. I did not hold anything back in writing these poems, so I also hope they show how being at Notre Dame helped me grow and develop my mind.The collection ends as I was finishing my senior year in college and looking forward to adulthood. The final poem, "Twelve Dollars" was written 50 years after I crossed the stage in my cap and gown to receive my college diploma in 1969. The first part of the poem describes my feelings when I left Notre Dame that day and set out to make my way in life. The second part records my great good fortune to be able to attend my 50th Notre Dame reunion in 2019. The poem and this collection are thus dedicated to my classmates and to the University of Notre Dame.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1797474693
• ISBN13: 9781797474694
• Release Date: February 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 129 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"