Andrew Scott is a native of Fredericton, NB. During his time as an active poet, Andrew Scott has taken the time to speak in front of classrooms, judge poetry competitions as well as had over 200 hundred writings published worldwide in such publications as The Art of Being Human, Battered Shadows and The Broken Ones.

Andrew Scott has published five poetry books, Snake With A Flower, The Phoenix Has Risen, The Path, The Storm Is Coming and Searching andone book of photography, Through My Eyes.  Whispers Of The Calm is his sixth poetry book.

To contact Andrew, email …andrewscott.scott@gmail.com

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Hiking With Ghosts

Part One - Preparing
The Sunday started like any other.
Picked a little known trail to explore
and started to pack in excitement.

Nowadays exploring a new place
peaks my interest.
Find the outdoor air refreshing.
The fall air clears out everything,
the mind and the body.

Today it was choice
between reading and 
listening to music
which is another way
to relax the body 
however the trail has won out. 

Pack the necessities for me.
A camera, water, and a music player,
jacket and gloves,
hiking shoes for comfort.
Car is loaded.
Time for a tranquil adventure.

Part Two - The Drive
The trail picked
is two hours away.
It may seem odd to folks
but that is part of the journey. 

I grab a cup of coffee
to feed the addiction.
Turn on the music and go.
Bring different types
to listen to for variety.

Discovered a long time ago
that I did not mind
driving myself long distances. 

Used to take off for days or weeks.
Sleeping in the back of my car
was not unheard of.
Pack a portable barbeque,
food container and sleeping bag.
It was actually comfortable. 

Also had a little companion.
A very quiet dog
to keep me company.
She got sick, miss her sometimes. 

Surprisingly I get to where
I am going on time
without getting lost.
This has been known to happen.
Today is looking good so far. 

Part Three - Lost
Usually some of the trails
are harder to find
so I have been lost before
however finding where 
I was going this time was nothing
compared to being lost in life.
I have been there too. 

My mid-twenties was that period.
No idea where I was
or where I was going. 

I could blame poor habits
like a fondness for the bottle
or having poor friend choices.

At the end of the day
the wrong path 
was mine to choose.

Seeing clearly did not happen
until great support was provided
when the crossroads 
were stood in front of.

I had to find the light
to continue the journey.
The demons on my shoulders
had to be defeated. 

Part Four - Thoughts
One of the best parts
of being alone,
I use it to straighten
out of my head.

Find when life gives 
myself bumps
that this is the best place
for me to be. 

Though it is not
really spoken about,
I have not hidden 
the small bouts of depression
that have creeped up on me.
Irrational things used
to come out of it. 

When I feel a trigger
I come out here
to straighten out my mind
and come up with a battle plan.
The fresh air does that for me. 

Part Five - Perspective
To be amongst the trees
sure puts my life
into perspective.
I am such a small cog.

When I come here,
understand that all
my worries are so small.
Life could always be worse. 

Know people have it 
so much worse 
than I ever will.

Friends and family
are in my life
and protect me from me
while providing support
even at my lowest.
Will always survive because of that.

Others do not have this
for one reason or another.
I am so fortunate.

Part Six - Stronger
After I get back to my car
to travel back home
I am stronger than
when I went on this trail.

Do not know
if it is the time alone
or the wind and air
taking all the doubts
and worries away.

Feel refreshed
and am able to now
handle any obstacle
thrown at me.
There will be many
so I am ready for them.

Until the next time
I have to walk the wood
and there will always 
be another time.