mrteague

Your Penney-Ante Speeches

Every so often, I just get in a mood and write a quirky poem whose origin even I don’t really understand. “Your Penney-Ante Speeches” is one such poem and appears in my first book of poems, The Wind and the Shadows. Even if I don’t know where it came from exactly, it’s blunt playfulness makesContinueContinue reading “Your Penney-Ante Speeches”

At the Movies

I have been battling bronchitis for the past week, so I am dashing off a quick post featuring a poem I wrote about going to the movies. This poem is available in my second book, Event Horizon. At the Movies The screen flickers off, and the house lights come up. For two hours, we’ve watchedContinueContinue reading “At the Movies”

Reading the Old Poets

I like all kinds of poetry—modern, medieval, formal, experimental, you name it. The only thing I haven’t read much of is epic poetry because I like shorter poems. Admittedly, I gravitate to free verse in my writing because of the immediacy of expression: I can focus on imagery and wording without considering whether something willContinueContinue reading “Reading the Old Poets”

2047 Grace Street—Christian Wiman

I don’t remember how she heard about him, but my wife introduced me to Christian Wiman, and played a recording of him reading his poem, “All My Friends are Finding New Beliefs.” Wiman is a Christian, but I doubt he would fit in anyone’s theological box. His seems a very searching faith whose hunger forContinueContinue reading “2047 Grace Street—Christian Wiman”

Costumes

Tomorrow is Hallowe’en, and at my house pumpkins are carved and costumes are (mostly) ready. Like runners on blocks, we are taut and ready to burst into a candy-eating sprint. Below is a poem I wrote last Hallowe’en entitled “Costumes.” It appeared in my second book, Event Horizon. For fun, I’ve also posted a coupleContinueContinue reading “Costumes”

The State of Mercury

Back in May, my poem, “The Vineyard,” was published in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal. Through Heart of Flesh’s editor, Veronica McDonald, I learned about chapbooks. A chapbook is a short book of poems (usually 20-40). Often, the poems touch a single theme. In the next few months, I plan to self-publish a chapbook calledContinueContinue reading “The State of Mercury”

Sing a Song of Sickness

More than 30 years ago now, I was thinking about the nursery rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence” when a variation of the opening lines went through my head: “Sing a song of sickness / a pocketful of why”. The philosophic overtones of this variant juxtaposed with the sing-song feel of the nursery rhyme intriguedContinueContinue reading “Sing a Song of Sickness”

The In-Beyond-Within

Spiritual things are among the most difficult for me to write about. There is not really a point of reference for spiritual realities in the world we know by sense experience. At best, sense experiences can provide analogies or imagery for spiritual things. Jesus Himself acknowledged this when He said, “If I have told youContinueContinue reading “The In-Beyond-Within”

The Somnambulator

In the early 2000s, I became acquainted with the word “somnambulate,” which means to sleep walk. For some reason, the word amused me; I found myself thinking about it and about misadventures a somnambulator might have. (Incidentally, “somnambulator” isn’t a word…yet. Using poetic license, I’m starting a campaign to change that, 😉). Some of thoseContinueContinue reading “The Somnambulator”

The Devil’s Thesaurus

When Samuel Faulk said something about haiku at the Bible study we attended, I thought, “This guy either writes or reads poetry.” I asked him about it later, and he admitted to reading AND writing poetry. We got together to talk poetry, and he told me about a book he’d been working on for awhileContinueContinue reading “The Devil’s Thesaurus”