I'm sure everyone writes differently. I find it easiest when I pick a memory (or imagine a place, even if it's somewhere I've never been) and try to create it with melody & harmony. This collection started out with a longer title: "These Dreams I Tell (of the 23rd Parallel)" Most of the time, the scene was somewhere over the Tropic of Capricorn ( the 23rd Parallel South), over southern Brazil and,looking east over the Atlantic. Once that idea took hold, each piece had it's own scene. "Dancin' with Clouds" is what it's like to take an airplane and fly around (or, poke holes through) clouds. "Sometimes" is a song about lost love. (Those are the same no matter where you are in the world.) "Quiescence" is on a secluded beach, at night, overlooking the tranquil waters of a bay, with a full moon rising. "Where There is Hope" is a little different. It's a reminder to those countries that have more..... to offer a hand to those that have less. But, this is what these pieces say to me. To you, they may say something else.... and that's how it should be.