Tome (tôm) n. Fr< L tomos, 1 [Obs.]any volume of a work of severalvolumes 2 a book, esp., a large,scholarly or ponderous one.The Tome of the Unknown Poetis a generous introduction of theimaginative, witty, and contemporarywriting of the author. It has been inthe making for a period of more than50 years. Its content has emergedfrom several sources and directionsas varied as the subjects they portray.Some have evolved from personalexperiences of the author, others fromthe antics and sometimes frustrationsof others as viewed by the author.There was no attempt during itsevolution at a methodical recordingand preservation of material but a'willy-nilly' writing on whateverwas at hand (a limerick was rescuedfrom the cardboard center of a roll oftoilet tissue).There are, by and large, echoes andrefl ections throughout this writing ofincidents and events that, at sometime,took place in the life of the author.Although there has been an attemptto categorize and catalog the materialto some degree, it still is, overall, aliterary 'slice of life'. 3