mrteague

Visionaries

In my neck of the woods, we are staggering towards fall. High temps lurch between the upper 80s and mid 70s but the lows are in the 40s. A few leaves have already fallen. “Visionaries” is a poem I wrote in the early ‘90s. It isn’t in any of my self-published books, but it isContinueContinue reading “Visionaries”

Not a Car

Recently, I mentioned I started setting up my cat chapbook for publication. It is pretty much ready to go but I made the decision to delay its release. Why? Without thinking, I submitted one of my cat poems to a journal. When I started sending poems to journals, I learned quickly that most won’t publishContinueContinue reading “Not a Car”

County Fair

My wife proudly describes herself as “an instigator.” This means she drops an idea in earshot of a person or two, lets them carry it out, and disappears (especially if there are consequences involved 😆). Sometimes, my wife instigates poems, usually by saying, “I have a poem idea….” or “You should write a poem aboutContinueContinue reading “County Fair”

The Pale Lady

Over the years, I’ve come to enjoy sonnets. Being a long-standing form of poetry, some might find sonnets dull and played out. I would’ve included myself in that crowd at one time. But as I’ve tried my hand at sonnets, I’ve found I like wrestling an idea into the restrictive rhyme and meter. The brevityContinueContinue reading “The Pale Lady”

April Come She Will

Song lyrics combine two of my favorite things: poetry and music. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel—gorgeous music with words full of poetry, philosophy, and reflection. I play guitar so I’ve been challenging myself to learn several songs by Simon and Garfunkel. Anyone who’s listened to Simon and Garfunkel knowsContinueContinue reading “April Come She Will”

Sun God

“Sun God” is the final poem in my new book, Shadow and Memory. It is a tanka, a Japanese poetic form of five lines. Similar to its three line cousin, haiku, each line has a set number of syllables. Before presenting this poem, I thought I’d say a few words about my approach to writingContinueContinue reading “Sun God”

CATTACK!

Soon (sooner than I’d like 😉), we will be dropping our daughter, Kate, at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, CA. Kate LOVES cats, so I am posting a cat poem today in honor of her departure. It also seemed apropos to share a cat poem because I am going to start prepping my cat chapbookContinueContinue reading “CATTACK!”

Elements

When I was in college, I took a poetry class. Looking back, I learned so much in that class; my writing changed a lot afterward. That said, I was skeptical of many things at first. The professor’s philosophy about poetry differed from mine at the time. But as I tried the things I was hearing,ContinueContinue reading “Elements”

A Tongue

Spiritual experience can be hard to put into words because it’s often beyond words. This is probably why the Bible is full of visions, parables, dreams, and poetry. Imagery, metaphor, and symbolism are sometimes the best ways to express the inexpressible. Paradox can also be useful in understanding and communicating things of the spirit. ChristContinueContinue reading “A Tongue”

Deep Focus: Matt Randles

Matt Randles and I go waaay back…about 32 years to be exact. We were both studying music at Central Washington University when we met. Back then, we didn’t hang out much. He was too…Christian. I was an elitist who enjoyed staring contests with the abyss 😉 Fast forward about 9 years, and Matt is attendingContinueContinue reading “Deep Focus: Matt Randles”