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”
Category Archives: Free verse
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”
Sabbath
For a number of months, I have felt like I need more space in my life—space to reflect and re-evaluate some things, space for rest, and space for God. As I prayed and thought about this, I felt directed to take a semi-sabbatical in April. Other than going to work and church, I am takingContinueContinue reading “Sabbath”
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 myContinueContinue reading “Christ Arose”
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 SpiritualContinueContinue 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’mContinueContinue 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’sContinueContinue 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 orContinueContinue reading “All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs”
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 imageryContinueContinue reading “Softly and Tenderly”
A Wandering Minstrel 