mrteague

Coloring Outside the Lines

Luc Bat is a Vietnamese form of poetry I blogged about earlier this year. The name means, “six, eight” and refers to the alternating lines of six and eight syllables. There’s also a fun rhyme scheme, which I diagram in my other post. “Coloring Outside the Lines” was my first attempt at a Luc BatContinueContinue reading “Coloring Outside the Lines”

Cobwebs

“Imagination is funny It makes a cloudy day sunny It makes a bee think of honey Just as I think of you.” So goes the song popularized by Frank Sinatra. But imagination works the other way too. Pathological imagination often presents as fear and anxiety. This is what inspired “Cobwebs,” which appeared in my firstContinueContinue reading “Cobwebs”

Habit

Life is full of routines. Some routines (like work or school) we don’t have much choice about. We attend church every Sunday because knowing God within a community is deeply important to us. Other routines evolve around fun: popcorn on Wednesdays, Family Pizza Movie Night on Fridays, etc. However routines start, they can become automated,ContinueContinue reading “Habit”

The Vineyard Published!

In a previous post, I mentioned my poem “The Vineyard” would appear in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, Issue Seven. Friday, May 6, was the publication date! Please check out this issue. I got a sneak peak and found several excellent poems. I look forward to reading others. Of those I read so far, myContinueContinue reading “The Vineyard Published!”

It’s in the Genes—Kate McKamey

My daughter, Kate, attends high school at Wilson Hill Academy. Recently, her biology class had two projects: 1) do something artistic about genetics; 2) create a related meme. Kate opted to write six haiku about DNA and create a meme about writing poetry. We have writers on both sides of the family, so Kate comesContinueContinue reading “It’s in the Genes—Kate McKamey”

Frames of Dust

Feelings are like precious metals mingled and trapped in rocks. They’re not always valuable in their raw form. They must be processed and refined to become something beautiful. Writing poems has provided many writers a way to process and refine emotions. My own poems reflect all sorts of states: worship, whimsy, rage, rapture…poems are passionContinueContinue reading “Frames of Dust”

Late Afternoon

Tanka is a Japanese form of poetry I learned about last year. Haiku is a related form that started as part of Tanka. Haiku has a 5 syllable line followed by a seven syllable line, and ends with another 5 syllable line. Tanka begins with the same arrangement but adds two seven syllable lines atContinueContinue reading “Late Afternoon”

Third Time’s a Charm…

I am grateful to announce that my poem, “The Vineyard,” will appear in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, issue seven, 5/6/22! This makes three poems published in two different journals. “The Vineyard” is a free-verse poem made up of four quintains (five-line stanzas). It is more or less a meditation on the kingdom of GodContinueContinue reading “Third Time’s a Charm…”

A Delicious Concentrate

Sometimes, I read a poem that is everything I want a poem to be. The poem below, by Philip Larkin, is just such a poem: An April Sunday brings the snow, Making the blossom on the plum trees green, Not white. An hour or two, and it will go. Strange that I spend that hourContinueContinue reading “A Delicious Concentrate”

Clouds upon the Wind

Villanelle is a form of poetry I became interested in last year. It is a highly structured form comprised of 19 lines: five tercets (three line stanzas) followed by a quatrain (a four line stanza). The first line is repeated at the end of the second and fourth tercets. The third line is repeated atContinueContinue reading “Clouds upon the Wind”