Poetry is the art of hearing ourselves say things we did not know we knew. In this little piece from my 2014 poetry collection, I poke fun at our cultural obsession with self-improvement. Who is this “self” that can improve the “self” that needs improving? Perhaps it is better to simply discover and own our…
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Poetry is what’s thrilling, while a poem is that poor thing with eleven readers, eight of them members of the poet’s extended family.–Damion Searles The above quote is funny in two ways. It’s funny (ha-ha) because it has a thread of truth. Lots of poems have precious few readers. However, certain poems break through and change lives…
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How Language Perpetuates The Heartbreak of Ghostly Towns, Poverty, and Perhaps The End of Civilization As We Know It Within our culture, linear language is triumphant, and yet nested within that triumph is our sure defeat… In our human toolbox, language has always been the 1,000-pound gorilla. No other tool is mastered so fully, so quickly,…
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The late great Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Mary Oliver, throwing down the inspirational gauntlet in a poem called “The Summer Day,” asks each of us a brilliant, exciting, and intimidating question, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” How is that for a show-stopper of a question? It brings to mind a…
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Startled, stunned, surprised… stopped in midair by a poem! I never tire of that feeling and I especially love seeing others stealthfully confronted by a powerful piece of language. I’ve delighted in seeing so many people over the years, who have been deeply moved by just the right poem at the just the right moment…
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How do we maintain our center, courage and attitudinal resilience in these chaotic political and social times? Here is a poem below that may help. It does not shy away from any of the difficulties or fierce facts we are facing. It was the cornerstone poem I used at a gathering of kindred spirits at…
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Like many, I’ve been increasingly stressed, depressed and upset over our current social and political environment. (I’ll get to how poetry can help us be more centered, calm, and effective in just a moment.) But first, here is my question: How can I help address the darkness and turmoil of our current social and political…
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As I write this, I’m thinking of all those times I’ve scanned a room or auditorium for evidence… Like a hound dog, I cock my head sideways and listen carefully. Then get down low and sniff for the scent of wonder. I search for “ah-ha” moments anywhere they lurk. I tell you; people get the…
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