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"

February ‘23

As Valentine’s Day came to a close last week, I came down with a cold. This got me thinking about Valentine’s Day last year: My wife had vertigo, and I had a high fever with a side of congestion (COVID or influenza, I’m guessing). Let me tell ya, the romance was high 😆 Such aContinue reading "February ‘23"

The Crow

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is one of the more notorious poems of all time. For the uninitiated, the basic story is this: a raven visits the narrator, who is mourning his lost love, and repeats the word “Nevermore” until the narrator loses it. (“Nevermore” seems to be an eternal drain of despair opening below the narrator’sContinue reading "The Crow"

Softly and Tenderly

Last week, I mentioned I’m working on poems based on Christian hymns that will be included in an upcoming book, Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. My goal has been to write modern poems in which I poetically interact with a hymn rather than just rehashing it. Synthesizing and distilling the text of a hymn into new imageryContinue reading "Softly and Tenderly"