poem

“DHS: Man fatally shot ‘violently resisted’ attempts to be disarmed.” Source: CNN

Often, during times like these, I feel like I don’t say or do enough to speak out about crimes against humanity. Often, I’m left dumbfounded. Mostly, I’m too angry, and when I get angry, I tend to stay quiet. And sometimes I feel ashamed when I stay quiet. I tried to capture that in this poem.

A poem about the first snow and the excitement it brings.

This poem came to me as I listened to the wind in the pines. It is a sound I absolutely love next to that of waves. This is one of those poems that I wrote the initial idea down, but then refined it. Words were adjusted and line lengths changed for flow, and as I did that, I noticed something of a linear timeframe forming. So then I considered the first stanza and thought of a way to talk about human history or even a singular life.

After the clouds cleared one morning, I could see more of the mountains in the distance. This poem came to me as I thought, there are always more mountains. I started considering how we all have these mountains we’re climbing, all the ones we’ve already climbed, and all the things in between.

My mind has been dark lately. I realized I needed to play, and not write anything too deep. So, I thought it would be fun to create a piece inspired by trees that is also tree shaped.

A little free form bit to capture what I saw, felt, and smelled the other day. Rain in the desert has a distinct smell, with mostly that of the earthy, peppery scent of the creosote bush. Something I will miss when we leave the desert.

This poem is about many things. Manic episodes and depression, self-esteem, confidence, and reworking failed dreams. It’s about trying and failing and trying again. It’s about finding yourself amongst the chaos. I found this poem again after I published my book, Between The Dark and The Light. I’m a little sad that it isn’t in there, but maybe it will end up in a second or special edition — or a completely different book! Recently, I looked at it again while considering what poems I wanted to share on here.

I wrote this poem today after walking my dogs. It occurred to me how long it has been since we had rain here in the desert valley of Arizona — which has been about 170 days. Usually we would have had some by now and the wildflowers would start blanketing the ground in a burst of yellow, orange, and purple.

I wrote this poem after being in a writing slump. Thank to my friend and poet, V. Walker, for the inspiration to get me out of the slump!