Collaborating with the Muses to inspire, create, and illuminate
Are not all poems found poems? Are not all poets failed poets failing in a form fated to fail? Poetry is not truth, but the last gasp of revelation after hearing the truest word. The poet speaks in tongues to a world that cannot bear truth, whose words are woodpeckers at the rotting beam, wind …
I did this new thing recently. They call it erasure poetry. I call it a back door into writing. Either way, I was inspired to give it a go because I was listening to this podcast in which Jeff Goins riffs on mix tapes, creation v. curation, etc. It got me thinking about how it's …
Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you. Dr. Peter Venkman: What? Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams. Dr. Peter Venkman: Why? Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad. Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"? Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine …
The featured image and the following poem are part of a larger collection (titled "Transit") which was the result of a collaboration with photographer Tom Darin Liskey in the spring of 2020. It was an honor to work with Tom, whose photography I have admired for many years. We are currently preparing this collection for …
A review by Kevin Belmonte Ravenna - the latest collaboration between Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy - is an album that bestows the finest of gifts: a rare and kindred artistry. Visually and sonically, the album is a fully-realized vision and song-cycle. And it begins with the album’s packaging: a stunning presentation of painted images that …
Sitting on the back porch of 2020, watching for the sun to rise on the next year, I am grateful for our common task that binds us - this essential work of loving in the time we have to love. Let's get busy with that, shall we? And in the meantime, I share some excerpts …
This strange season has not been conducive to writing for me, although I can’t say I haven’t had the time. It just seems my mind only has the capacity to capture random observations and store them away for some unforeseen future use. As that future use may never be revealed, I share a few of …
Continue reading "Ten Random Observations at a Time of Social Distancing"
In the meadow where summer stars fall, then wink – and closer still – wink ***** Photo by toan phan on Unsplash
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J.R.R. Tolkien – The Fellowship of The Ring Inevitable …
Before and after There’s this thing going around about how we should not want to go back to “normal” because what came before should be – upon reflection – forsaken. I don’t know what your normal looked like before, but as for me, I can’t wait to have an unplanned conversation with a colleague by …
All Nine 