⭐ = a personal favorite

Haiku 365 (2016)
January – February – March – April – May – June
July – August – September – October – November – December

My mom’s idea! 365 haiku for 365 days. I didn’t write one every day, but I always caught up the days I missed. Possibly my favorite one, from June:

The song of black storms
slithers over virgin land,
weeping tornadoes.

Ode on a Martian Urn (May 2014)

Don’t tell John Keats.

Dead-end Roads (April 2014)

I think I wrote this for the blog one morning.

Salvation (March 2014) ⭐

An eight-line battle hymn against depression. I read this aloud at a group therapy session once.

The Witching Hour (published December 2013) ⭐

A collection of 25 of my best poems, written across the decade of 2003 – 2013. Some haven’t aged terribly well (2003 was when I graduated high school) but most still hold up today.

Aubade (January 2013)

I don’t even remember writing this, but it’s not bad.

A Scientific Sonnet (June 2011)

Any love poem that includes the term Hertzsprung-Russell can’t be all bad.

Two Yellow Dogs (August 2006) ⭐

From my college years. A little poem about two wonderful yellow labs, Misty and Brandy, who belonged to my dad and my stepmom Arlene (and to me, whenever I was able to visit). My dad insisted I include this poem, and I was happy to oblige, but somehow I’d gotten the idea that it wasn’t very good writing, despite the genuine warmth behind it. But re-reading it now, I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s much better than I remembered.

For those wondering: In the poem, “boogers” refers to invaders (i.e., boogeymen), real or imagined.

Summer Night (2005)

A love poem … from the era B.B. (Before Betsy)! :-O It isn’t written to, or about, anyone in particular.

Dragonfall (April 2005)

As a writer, there’s a special pleasure when you’re trying to capture a specific, unexplainable feeling, and you actually succeed.

Starfarer (March 2004)

We go in search of dragons still.

The Silent Dark (circa 2001)

Now we’re really going back in time. I wrote this sometime around junior year of high school. My dad loves it — this is the second of two poems I included at his request. Although I find the language a bit stilted by my standards today, I admit it does have a compelling simplicity to it.