Collaborating with the Muses to inspire, create, and illuminate
Wow, that year went by fast! That's right, it's been a year since photographer Tom Darin Liskey and I released Transit, our collaborative book project, into the world. It was a truly meaningful work for us, combining poetry and photography and reflection on what the past few years have meant for us personally and globally. …
LATCHKEY KIDS It was years before I realized they meant us. We were pre-teens with keys, unlocking doors, preparing supper, riding bicycles without helmets – without a thought for safety. We roughed our way across the creek, through the woods, never worried about tics. We climbed to the top of the old oak and ripped …
A couple years ago, I shared some images and poems on this site from a collaboration with photographer Tom Darin Liskey. Finally, after all that time and a good amount of back and forth, Amazon delivered this solid hold-in-my-hands print copy of our for-real book: It's here, it's here, it's finally here! By way of …
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 …
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 …
“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 …
Seeing as how I just received notice that my chapbook did not make the cut in a competition I had entered a few months back, it's as good a time as any to confess my poetic failures. But in reflection, every day is a good day to be honest about the real. There's no shame …
The selection below ends our series showcasing a collaboration of photography and poetry. Thank you, Tom Darin Liskey, for offering up your stunning images for reflection. Have a blessed Easter, my friends. He is risen. He is risen indeed. The Cross What is there to say about a cross with bling? In your face, judgment. …
All Nine 