Category Archives: Poetry

It turns out that April is National Poetry Month.  Who knew?  I’ve been sitting on this gem for awhile now, undecided about if or when I should share it.  With everything going on in the world, now seems like a pretty logical time.  I wrote this when I was in a particularly dark place.  Not much has changed, and it never really seems to.  Some may see this as a cry for help, which I’m not entirely convinced that it is.  Mostly, this is just to serve as an outlet.  A lot of it reflects my own personal thought processes and ideas, sure.  But some of it is for artistic value.  I won’t break it down any more than that right now, but I hope you enjoy this poem for what it is: a glimpse into my broken psyche, and what I think is a pretty decent, fairly powerful poem about mental health and the struggles that people face with it.

Mental Health.

A current fad.

So many causes:

Work, kids, bills, health, genetics, weather.

So few solutions:

Counseling, medication, self care.

But who has time? Who has money?

Gym memberships. More money. More time.

Therapy, prescriptions. More money. More time.

More stress.

What’s the reason?

What’s the purpose?

Sleep, the only reprieve.

Temporary, but consistent.

Sleep, please come quickly.

Depression.

Anxiety.

Sadness.

Loneliness.

Taught to bottle it up and keep it inside;

Where it festers, eats you up, and rots you from the core.

Your mind works against you.

Share your feelings they say, let it out.

But why? What changes?

Pity? Become a punchline?

What’s the point?

Stress is all consuming.

Sleep will come eventually.

Perpetually.

Eventually.

Sleep.

Remember when I said I was a pretty serious poet? (Scroll down a little bit, and that should help refresh your memory.) Well, the latest collection of poetry that I was fortunate enough to be featured in has been released and you should all stock up while the getting is good! All proceeds will go to benefit The Homeless Advocacy Center of Anderson and Madison County. Order your copies here and help support a great cause!

Last year I came across a call for submission for poems pertaining to the night sky. The poems were to be collected and published in book form, and the proceeds would go to benefit a planetarium at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Being a Ball State grad, I was instantly excited and started grinding the gears in my brain to see what I could crank out. I started ruminating over Indiana nights, clear country skies, and lightning bugs. Fireflies to be more precise.

My wife and I had been binging the wonderful science fiction television show, “Firefly,” and I knew right away that I had to come up with an ode to Captain Malcolm Reynolds. The words came naturally and flowed freely. It’s a beautiful dedication to cult pop culture.

From there, I went real deep. You know, like a real poet. “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh is one of my favorite paintings ever (much like everybody else on the face of the earth), so I really dug into the artistic process that went into creating that masterpiece. Weeks of thought went into this poem and weeks more of tweaking it to get it right. In the end, it turned out great – if I do say so myself. Continue reading →

A few months ago I was made aware of a fundraising effort by a local pet charity involving poetry centered around pets – mainly cats and dogs.  The idea was to have a collection of poetry published, and proceeds will go to help maintain Earl’s Heart Pet Food Pantry in nearby Anderson, Indiana.  I submitted three pieces of prose centered around my experiences with furry, four-legged friends throughout my life, and I’m very excited that two of my three submissions were actually chosen to be included in the anthology!  The collection was released today, on National Pet Day – because of course!  Click the link or check out the Store page to order your copy today!

Paw Prints in Verse: Poems About Pets