mrteague

Fatherhood

Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there! This year, I received the gift of poetry. My wife has been known to write a poem when the mood takes her, and she wrote me a lovely haiku for Father’s Day ❤️ Haiku is a favorite form of mine, and in this sparse space, myContinueContinue reading “Fatherhood”

Empty Hands

Change is something we all live with. It’s inevitable, and we react to it in our own ways. If I’m honest, my reaction is often grief, or, at the very least, reflection. The longer I live, the more change I go through. For me, that means a lot of grief or reflection, even over thingsContinueContinue reading “Empty Hands”

Unpaired Words

Every poet (probably every writer) is, on some level, a word nerd, a grammar geek. True to form, I have been learning about unpaired words. These are words whose root form has fallen out of use and only survive in our language as words paired with a suffix or prefix. For instance, we might sayContinueContinue reading “Unpaired Words”

in Just

When I mentioned “the goat-footed balloon man”, my daughter gave me a quizzical look and said, “Whaaat?” Something she said made me think of him, though I can’t remember what it was now. To explain, I looked up E.E. Cummings’s poem [in Just] and read it aloud. The childish innocence of this poem always makesContinueContinue reading “in Just”

Stars

My son, who has a budding interest in astrophysics, has been learning about black holes and stars. The other day he relayed what he had found out about the black hole in our own galaxy, superstars, and theories about the origins of the largest black hole discovered (to date). I won’t say I carried myContinueContinue reading “Stars”

Snow at Grandma’s

Right after I decided to share this poem, I realized it might raise an eyebrow to post a poem about snow as we’re heading into summer temperatures 🤨 But maybe this will help someone stay psychologically cool 😁 “Snow at Grandma’s” was part of my first book of poems, The Wind and the Shadows. SnowContinueContinue reading “Snow at Grandma’s”

Dyed in Faith

The semi-sabbatical I took in April is over. I was loath to see it end, but it was the time of rest and prayer I needed. As a result, I decided to reduce my schedule going forward so I can continue to give more space to God and my family. Years ago, I wrote aContinueContinue reading “Dyed in Faith”

Cityscapes IV

My third book, Shadow and Memory, has a four-part poem entitled “Cityscapes.” I wrote this poem while we were visiting a city a few hours from the smallish town where we live. Below is the final part of “Cityscapes.” In one way, each of these poems stands alone and presents a different view of theContinueContinue reading “Cityscapes IV”

air and light and time and space

In another post, I talked about the impact Charles Bukowski had on my conception of poetry and how I write. One of his poems—“air and light and time and space”—has always stuck with me; at some point in the last year I realized it has long been part of my philosophy of writing, albeit subconsciously.ContinueContinue reading “air and light and time and space”

Once More

April brings up a host of feelings for me. Warmer weather begins, which I love. Easter is often in April, infusing this month with the hope of Christ’s resurrection and the destruction of death. For now, death is still a reality we face, and April 2009 is when my dad died. Dad’s death has twoContinueContinue reading “Once More”