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 theContinue 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.Continue 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 twoContinue reading "Once More"

Christ Arose

Happy Easter! Today, we remember that Jesus rose from the dead and is the resurrection and the life for every person He indwells 😊 A well known hymn about Christ’s resurrection is “Christ Arose” by Robert Lowry. This is one of the hymns I wrote a poem based on and which will appear in myContinue reading "Christ Arose"

Easter Sun

Today marks the beginning of Passion Week, when Christians remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Last year, I wrote a poem called “Easter Sun,” which is made up of three haiku. “Easter Sun” will be part of a book coming out this year called Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. Easter SunRays outstretched inContinue reading "Easter Sun"

Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)

Last year, I started a series of poems based on Mozart’s Requiem. I ended up writing 12 poems that correspond to the 14 movements of the Requiem (two of the poems combine movements of the Requiem). These poems will be part of a book I hope to release this year entitled Psalms, Hymns, and SpiritualContinue reading "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)"

Free

With primary elections approaching in my state, it seemed apropos to post a poem about our country. “Free” will appear in my next book, The Anonymity of Waiting, slated to come out later this year. As a poem, I find it evocative and provocative. If it evokes or provokes anything in readers, please comment. I’mContinue reading "Free"

Slugging It Out

Writing has been a slog the last couple weeks. I’ve got 4 or 5 poems that I haven’t been able to finish for one reason or another. So, like any writer worth his salt, I wrote a poem the other day about how hard writing has been 😆 Slugging It OutIt’s not writer’s block,it’s writer’sContinue reading "Slugging It Out"

All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs

Recently, I discovered that a friend I thought was Catholic has embraced some other belief system. It made me think of a poem by Christian Wiman called, “All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs.” Wiman is a poet my wife introduced me to a couple years ago, through this very poem. Whether they know orContinue reading "All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs"