Poems By Others
now browsing by category
Within this section of my website – I showcase pieces of poetry that are written by others, which I find to be particularly worthy of further reflection and sharing.
my brain and heart divorced ~ john roedel
my brain and
heart divorced
a decade ago
over who was
to blame about
how big of a mess
I have become
eventually,
they couldn’t be
in the same room
with each other
now my head and heart
share custody of me
I stay with my brain
during the week
and my heart
gets me on weekends
they never speak to one another
– instead, they give me
the same note to pass
to each other every week
and the notes they
send to one another always
say the same thing:
“This is all your fault”
on Sundays
my heart complains
about how my
head has let me down
in the past
and on Wednesday
my head lists all
of the times my
heart has screwed
things up for me
in the future
they blame each
other for the
state of my life
there’s been a lot
of yelling – and crying
so,
lately, I’ve been
spending a lot of
time with my gut
who serves as my
unofficial therapist
most nights, I sneak out of the
window in my ribcage
and slide down my spine
and collapse on my
gut’s plush leather chair
that’s always open for me
~ and I just sit sit sit sit
until the sun comes up
last evening,
my gut asked me
if I was having a hard
time being caught
between my heart
and my head
I nodded
I said I didn’t know
if I could live with
either of them anymore
“my heart is always sad about
something that happened yesterday
while my head is always worried
about something that may happen tomorrow,”
I lamented
my gut squeezed my hand
“I just can’t live with
my mistakes of the past
or my anxiety about the future,”
I sighed
my gut smiled and said:
“in that case,
you should
go stay with your
lungs for a while,”
I was confused
the look on my face gave it away
“if you are exhausted about
your heart’s obsession with
the fixed past and your mind’s focus
on the uncertain future
your lungs are the perfect place for you
there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either
there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment
there is only breath
and in that breath
you can rest while your
heart and head work
their relationship out.”
this morning,
while my brain
was busy reading
tea leaves
and while my
heart was staring
at old photographs
I packed a little
bag and walked
to the door of
my lungs
before I could even knock
she opened the door
with a smile and as
a gust of air embraced me
she said
“what took you so long?”
Poetry
- A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda
- A Moment of Silence – by Emmanuel Ortiz
- A Quiet Life – Baron Wormser
- A Wreath to the Fish – Nancy Willard
- Alone – Jack Gilbert
- Be Kind, Rewind – Neil Silberblatt
- Black Momma Math – Kimberly Jae
- Crow Blacker Than Ever – Ted Hughes
- Don’t fall in love with a woman who reads – Martha Rivera-Garrido
- Failing and Flying – Jack Gilbert
- Feel Mo – Michael Korson
- Footprints In Your Heart – Eleanor Roosvelt
- Forgetfulness – Billy Collins
- Growing Old – Emma Rosenberg
- Homesick: A Plea for Our Planet – Andrea Gibson
- How to Slay a Dragon – Rebecca Dupas
- I Talked to a Lady – Tanya Howden
- If You Knew – Ellen Bass
- Love is Not All – Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Men – Maya Angelou
- my brain and heart divorced ~ john roedel
- Relax – Ellen Bass
- Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan
- The Four Noble Truths – Jake Onami Agnew
- The History of One Tough Motherfucker – Charles Bukowski
- The Layers – Stanley Kunitz
- The Long Boat – Stanley Kunitz
- The Shyness – Sharon Olds
- To Diego with Love – Frida Kalko
- Tryst with Death – Gina Puorro
- Two-bloods – Rolando Kattan
- Wage Peace – Mary Oliver
- War Primer – Bertholt Brecht
- What I Learned From Listening to a Stutterer – Ellen Zorin
Alone – Jack Gilbert
I never thought Michiko would come back
after she died. But if she did, I knew
it would be as a lady in a long white dress.
It is strange that she has returned
as somebody’s dalmatian. I meet
the man walking her on a leash
almost every week. He says good morning
and I stoop down to calm her. He said
once that she was never like that with
other people. Sometimes she is tethered
on their lawn when I go by. If nobody
is around, I sit on the grass. When she
finally quiets, she puts her head in my lap
and we watch each other’s eyes as I whisper
in her soft ears. She cares nothing about
the mystery. She likes it best when
I touch her head and tell her small
things about my days and our friends.
That makes her happy the way it always did.
POETRY BY OTHERS
- A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda
- A Moment of Silence – by Emmanuel Ortiz
- A Quiet Life – Baron Wormser
- A Wreath to the Fish – Nancy Willard
- Alone – Jack Gilbert
- Be Kind, Rewind – Neil Silberblatt
- Black Momma Math – Kimberly Jae
- Crow Blacker Than Ever – Ted Hughes
- Don’t fall in love with a woman who reads – Martha Rivera-Garrido
- Failing and Flying – Jack Gilbert
- Feel Mo – Michael Korson
- Footprints In Your Heart – Eleanor Roosvelt
- Forgetfulness – Billy Collins
- Growing Old – Emma Rosenberg
- Homesick: A Plea for Our Planet – Andrea Gibson
- How to Slay a Dragon – Rebecca Dupas
- I Talked to a Lady – Tanya Howden
- If You Knew – Ellen Bass
- Love is Not All – Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Men – Maya Angelou
- my brain and heart divorced ~ john roedel
- Relax – Ellen Bass
- Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan
- The Four Noble Truths – Jake Onami Agnew
- The History of One Tough Motherfucker – Charles Bukowski
- The Layers – Stanley Kunitz
- The Long Boat – Stanley Kunitz
- The Shyness – Sharon Olds
- To Diego with Love – Frida Kalko
- Tryst with Death – Gina Puorro
- Two-bloods – Rolando Kattan
- Wage Peace – Mary Oliver
- War Primer – Bertholt Brecht
- What I Learned From Listening to a Stutterer – Ellen Zorin
The Four Noble Truths – Jake Onami Agnew
Life is suffering:
The first of the teachings explains
a world of hurt, beleaguered with pain.
It says that life is suffering
and full of strife and struggling.
From birth until death, in human form –
we can certainly expect to be consumed by the forlorn.
Within this incarnation which we reside
there will be sin and tarnation held inside.
Suffering has a reason:
The second of these meaningful teachings
expresses why there is pain and its reasons.
From the days before, until tomorrow and after
this dismay is important, with its sorrowful disaster.
The tragedy which we must endure and feel
with sadness and grief are from something sure and real.
The chaos of life has cause and effect,
where dismay, loss and strife have obvious connections.
The reason for suffering is attachement:
The third of these truths states the following:
the absurdity and abuse are related to wallowing
in desire, needs and attachments of want,
with a fire that feeds, combats our senses and taunts.
The vexing hate and confusion we sustain
are connected, related to the delusions entertained.
When we long for an outcome to be consistently granted,
we feel wronged with doubt – succumbing to differences from what was demanded.
Disconnecting from attachment brings the cessation of suffering:
The fourth jewel of wisdom that is taught and shared
is an important tool of precision in thought and cares.
Liberation from suffering can be truthfully attained,
with a situation of less struggling, and fewer pains.
By practicing detachment and ceasing desire –
with these tactics we can combat the grief, and fire.
Enlightenment is within our reach and potential
when using this insight intense, of these teachings so influential.
POETRY BY OTHERS
- A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda
- A Moment of Silence – by Emmanuel Ortiz
- A Quiet Life – Baron Wormser
- A Wreath to the Fish – Nancy Willard
- Alone – Jack Gilbert
- Be Kind, Rewind – Neil Silberblatt
- Black Momma Math – Kimberly Jae
- Crow Blacker Than Ever – Ted Hughes
- Don’t fall in love with a woman who reads – Martha Rivera-Garrido
- Failing and Flying – Jack Gilbert
- Feel Mo – Michael Korson
- Footprints In Your Heart – Eleanor Roosvelt
- Forgetfulness – Billy Collins
- Growing Old – Emma Rosenberg
- Homesick: A Plea for Our Planet – Andrea Gibson
- How to Slay a Dragon – Rebecca Dupas
- I Talked to a Lady – Tanya Howden
- If You Knew – Ellen Bass
- Love is Not All – Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Men – Maya Angelou
- my brain and heart divorced ~ john roedel
- Relax – Ellen Bass
- Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan
- The Four Noble Truths – Jake Onami Agnew
- The History of One Tough Motherfucker – Charles Bukowski
- The Layers – Stanley Kunitz
- The Long Boat – Stanley Kunitz
- The Shyness – Sharon Olds
- To Diego with Love – Frida Kalko
- Tryst with Death – Gina Puorro
- Two-bloods – Rolando Kattan
- Wage Peace – Mary Oliver
- War Primer – Bertholt Brecht
- What I Learned From Listening to a Stutterer – Ellen Zorin
Tryst with Death – Gina Puorro
death asked me to join him for dinner
so I slipped into my favorite black dress
that I had been saving for a special occasion
and let him walk me to our candlelit tryst.
He ordered a ribeye, extra rare
I ordered two desserts and red wine
and then I sipped
and wondered
why he looked so familiar
and smelled like earth and memory.
He felt like a place both faraway
and deep within my body
A place that whispers to me
on the crisp autumn breeze
along the liminal edges of dusk and dawn
somewhere between dancing
and stillness.
He looked at me
with the endless night sky in his eyes
and asked
‘Did you live your life, my love?’
As I swirled my wine in its glass
I wondered If I understood the thread I wove into the greater fabric
If I loved in a way that was deep and freeing
If I let pain and grief carve me into something more grateful
If I made enough space to be in awe that flowers exist
and take the time to watch the honeybees
drink their sweet nectar
I wondered what the riddles of regret and longing
had taught me
and if I realized just how
beautiful and insignificant and monstrous and small we are
for the brief moment that we are here
before we all melt back down
into ancestors of the land.
Death watched me lick buttercream from my fingers
As he leaned in close and said
‘My darling, it’s time.’
So I slipped my hand into his
as he slowly walked me home.
I took a deep breath as he leaned in close
for the long kiss goodnight
and I felt a soft laugh leave my lips
as his mouth met mine
because I never could resist a man
with the lust for my soul in his eyes
and a kiss that makes my heart stop.
POETRY BY OTHERS
- A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda
- A Moment of Silence – by Emmanuel Ortiz
- A Quiet Life – Baron Wormser
- A Wreath to the Fish – Nancy Willard
- Alone – Jack Gilbert
- Be Kind, Rewind – Neil Silberblatt
- Black Momma Math – Kimberly Jae
- Crow Blacker Than Ever – Ted Hughes
- Don’t fall in love with a woman who reads – Martha Rivera-Garrido
- Failing and Flying – Jack Gilbert
- Feel Mo – Michael Korson
- Footprints In Your Heart – Eleanor Roosvelt
- Forgetfulness – Billy Collins
- Growing Old – Emma Rosenberg
- Homesick: A Plea for Our Planet – Andrea Gibson
- How to Slay a Dragon – Rebecca Dupas
- I Talked to a Lady – Tanya Howden
- If You Knew – Ellen Bass
- Love is Not All – Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Men – Maya Angelou
- my brain and heart divorced ~ john roedel
- Relax – Ellen Bass
- Tangled Up In Blue – Bob Dylan
- The Four Noble Truths – Jake Onami Agnew
- The History of One Tough Motherfucker – Charles Bukowski
- The Layers – Stanley Kunitz
- The Long Boat – Stanley Kunitz
- The Shyness – Sharon Olds
- To Diego with Love – Frida Kalko
- Tryst with Death – Gina Puorro
- Two-bloods – Rolando Kattan
- Wage Peace – Mary Oliver
- War Primer – Bertholt Brecht
- What I Learned From Listening to a Stutterer – Ellen Zorin
