Be a Man

Sometimes being a man
means putting one foot
in front of the other

- June 6, 2013

First Kiss

That night we first kissed
I romantically assaulted your defenses
Looking for a crack

All the while
You were silently slipping into my armor
With yours still on

Which turned out to be a bad tactic
For both of us


March 31, 2012

Spring Rain

Nothing nurtures resurrection like a
heavy, drenching,
prairie-brown, mucky making
spring rain


March 30, 2012

I wrote this after I got stuck in a dark, heavy rain walking home from the grocery store.  The rain was glorious!

The Truth We Think We Show

I love how children's faces
Innocently emanate truths
With purity
Immediacy
and arresting beauty

Until they discover
They need to hide these truths
And then
They reveal new truths
More complex and layered
But just as beautiful

And it reminds us
That we, in our presence, rarely exude
The truths we think we know
Or cleverly hide those we think we shouldn't
But rather
reveal the truths within us
That are often,
as of yet, beyond our grasp


March 30, 2012

I wrote this while watching a high school choir perform.  It struck me how little we realize how much power we have.  Their singing moved me in ways that are beyond their years to understand.  The words they sing are not yet grasped.  I thought of my own children's evolving innocence and self-awareness and then became aware of the elderly people in the crowd, who if they looked at me, at middle aged teacher, probably, in some sense would think the same thing.  What was I not seeing, yet?  What was I showing that I didn't yet know?   

Dark Corners

Dark Corners

When the light is ripping through my room
The dark corners
are hard to see

But
I know they are there
And someday
I know I will be blind again

It's the knowing
That makes it hard
And the knowing
That makes it easy
to celebrate the light

 
March 30, 2012

Welcome to Dark Corners!

I am going to use this blog to publish some of my poetry.  I don't write much, but I enjoy it in a cathartic sort of way.  I have always been strangely intrigued by poetry, a sentiment that grows as I age.  In poetry I find insight, wisdom, exploration, and meaning.  I like how poems can simultaneously 'cut to the chase' and be metaphoric and vague.  In poems I find comfort knowing that I am not alone, and that others have thoughts as crazy, or crazier, than mine. 

I rarely write poetry when I am in a good mood.  Maybe I should, but I'm doing other things when I feel joyous.  When I am really spinning on a problem, or feeling low, I can become thoughtful, reflective, and melancholic.  That's when I explore some of to the dark corners of myself, and sometimes write poetry, hence the title "Dark Corners Poetry Blog".   I don't always like, or understand, what I find.  Poetry helps me work through my thoughts, feelings, and fears.   

Not everything is dark, of course, but in the darkness are the secrets.