"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment." - John F. Kennedy

Thanks for finding me. This is a fairly random sampling of my poetic rumblings beginning in the mid-70s to present day. Not definitive or complete, just things that struck me again for one reason or another on revisiting. There are a couple of previously published collections here which might be good places to start if you are diving in blind from the precipice.

Try the collections MEET THE BEATS or GLIMMERING RAY DUET (both archived in June 2008 in the menu below right) for starters if you are so inclined...

As of 2016, I will be publishing my song lyrics on a seperate page from the more poetic scribblings here. Pieces that first appeared here and then later were arranged for music will remain here in their original form but may appear edited on the lyric page. Check out the links section for the original song blog.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

SELECTED POEMS FROM 2006

The poems posted here on JANUARY 27, 2012 were all written in 2006. They are not the only poems written in 2006 but are selected from what has been previously published/posted on my MySpace.com blog during that year.  There were also two complete collections not included in this current collection, posted in the MySpace blog in 2006 which were written in previous years -- MEET THE BEATS (poems dedicated to the Beat Generation writers and written over the preceding 30 years and collected on this blog here), and NATASHA'S PERIL (poems written in 2004 and published privately in a limited edition until their appearance in 2006 on MySpace).

The collection here features predominantly spontaneous, fairly unedited work that was written and almost immediately put into the MySpace blog. Not the most polished or ethereal scribblings ever but the energy and urging of the present moment makes their inclusion illustrative of the writing mind in a tumultuous, transistional, roller-coaster period.

The titles that appear are listed below appear in reverse chronological order than written.  If you are the orderly type read from the bottom up. Don't ask.

APPETIZER
GRAPHIC ART
TIMES TWO
COMPASS POINTS
ESSENCE
POEM FOR THREE FRIENDS
TRAIN 186, AUGUST 29
SWIMMING HOLE
THE TAO OF BUTTERFLIES
THE POLITICS OF DESIRE
FAREWELL CODY BOY
CRUEL WORDS

all poems listed above (c) 2006 Brad Riesau

No comments: