Dusting off the artistic side.

After two weeks of living without the internet in my house, I am finally connected and online. So what did I do during my time away from the wires? I enjoyed the beautiful weather. I spent at least two afternoons lying in a hammock. I went to a local film festival. I played soccer with friends. I wrote some poetry.

When I was writing, I realized that I haven't posted any of my poems here in a while. Sorry, but I won't share what I wrote most recently. It is still too current a process of emotions. But I will post three poems that I wrote last spring.

Pioneer Courthouse Square: Men

Man sleeping with chin on chest.
Bicyclist in full regalia.
Artful boys smoking cigarettes.
Stiff suits on men with short hair.

Pioneer Courthouse Square: Women

Girl with thick arms in a tight shirt.
Expensive woman at an ATM.
Horn-rimmed glasses under black brows.
Old ladies in white pants.


What Makes Us Sisters
to Bethany

Napping together with the music low
on sunny, Sunday afternoons,
blue light in our windows
and a gentle breeze on our faces.

Sharing a room and fighting about whether
the door should be closed or open
while we sleep because by controlling this
we control the world. (It should be closed.)

Telling secrets and deeper truths
than anyone else will hear--
an unspoken blood-bond of fidelity
or certain bodily revenge.

Talking through all that we love
about our family, faith, friends
and the movements of our hearts
in revolutions of passion or peace.

Becoming women together
and knowing that our mysterious bond
of genetics and camaraderie
makes us stronger to face the world.


I struggle, folks. So far I have really only posted my impersonal writing because it is easy to expose. So much of what I process, whether it was six months or three years ago, makes it into poems that I never feel free to share.

Maybe if you were sitting right here with me I would let you read the more personal poems. Maybe if I could trust myself enough to trust my emotions, then I could post them for anyone to read.

I know that part of the problem is that I like to be balanced, and poetry usually represents the depth of one particular feeling without the context of reasonable perspective.

I am also not the coolest poet that I know. My life is full of writers and artists that blow me out of the water with their inspired work. I am lucky to be surrounded by truly gifted friends.

And some of my poems are about you out there. Heaven forbid that you should read them and recognize yourself.

So for now I'll offer the occasional piece. I hope that as I grow more comfortable with my own writing, I will be able to give you a more complete picture of who I am and how I see the world.