The poem “Moves to Shock” was inspired by a Twitter posting by @EmMcchrystal that stated “Being me is actually so funny. Imagine. Being me. You could never. You would all DIE of SHAME being me. I am so powerful to still exist even tho I’m the most embarrassing entity to ever live on this earth.”

The poem “Life Released” is specifically about the blocking of memories due to traumatic situations.

A cloudy day prompted me to write “Sight Reduced”.

The poem “Closing Time” is about the inevitability of arriving at a destination, and whether this surety should prompt sooner action.

The poem "Keep Your Gods" is a reflection about the sadness of depression.

The poem “Now My Lot” was inspired by the quote “There used to be a void inside of me, but now there's nothing” written by Tumblr user @winterleapingfrog.  The verses speak to the difference between having a void that others can fill and the numbing emptiness that allows nobody inside.  The former is terrible.  The latter is worse.

“Write Me A Love Letter” was inspired by a Tumblr posted photo.

“With A Scourge” is about a particular type of dance between two people.   I was pondering the roles of the sadist and *******.  I can relate to the latter.  The former comes from a place that I cannot fully grasp.   It’s about have a personal reference.   The poem examines these dynamics while proposing a common denominator.

The poem “Like to Play” is a free-spirited tale about the wilder side of life.

The poem “An Awful Thirst” is about a regrettable component of aging:  beauty is still easily recognized even while it is properly out of considered reach.

The poem “Pixel Sparks” was inspired by the impression that an unfiltered social media site is more revealing than the rest of a person’s outward world.

The poem “Perhaps One Day” is a combination of thoughts about impostor complex, feelings of worthlessness, and the knowledge that others are fully in control of the world.

The poem "They Don't Believe" was inspired by a person's statement that one of the LGBQTIA identities was not real because it couldn't be tested.  This hit me hard.  Intellectually I understand that they may have been coming from a "scientific" perspective. There was no malice implied in their inability to relate to the specific letter of the acronym.  This, however, rang hollow as the other letters don't require the same level of rigorous proofing. Legitimately being bisexual does not require signed affidavits, peer-reviewed studies, doctor's findings, and video evidence.  With that said, some aspects of the alphabet soup are easier for the larger public to understand than others.

The poem “Self-Same” was inspired by my admiration of friends who are as non-normative as this poem’s author.  I feel less alone in the world knowing there are fellow travelers. A shared characteristic is the need to appease the greater populace, only showing the colors when safety allows.

The poem “Worn The Halo” was inspired by a Tumblr discussion that spoke to the differences between demons’ horns and angels’ halos.

The poem “*** and a New Tattoo” was prompted by a photo on Tumblr posted by alleycat9978.

“Giving Voice” is about the pitfalls of being an ally.  It was prompted by a YouTube controversy that featured allies to a minority group talking over their stated associates.  The talking inflicted wounds, injuries largely invisible to the allies because they didn’t have a complimenting life experience.

The poem “A Madness Spun” is about presenting normality while desiring to express much more.

Marginalized, non-normative communities are often not seen in products of media.  I attempt to do my part in allowing the grasping of unity.

The poem “Cute Where a Pill” was inspired by an instance when I wore a very sleek black pencil dress.    I personally felt quite **** in it as I tapped into how I would like to present myself and my attributes.  The actual presentation was something else.  A dear friend said that I looked handsome.  I said that I wanted to be cuter.  **** was not equating with cute, and I’ve expressed in prose the struggle I’m experiencing.

The poem “Blue Becomes” was inspired by a particularly sad morning.    During the same time there was an expectation of being productive.  The result reminds me of Eiffel 65’s song “I’m Blue”.

The poem “Ghosts of the Past" was inspired by the Nikita Gill's quote “The ghosts of all the women you used to be are all proud of the who you have become.”

A Tumblr blog asked readers to post lists of three.  This inspired me to write the poem “To Dwell Again”.

The poem “Angel for a Day” was inspired by a photo of a person standing in front of a picture of angel wings.

The poem “Between Two Worlds” was prompted by a photo expressing the fashion of “Southern Gothic”.   The photo was a mix of lace and leather, with banded ******* embracing the core of the model.

Brittany Simon’s video, “Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”, inspired me to write the poem “Who I Am”.  I am very happy for the friends that look past how I differ from them.  I may defy their tribal beliefs.  I am still allowed to exist in the sphere of their world.

The poem “Compelled Normality” was inspired by a friend’s remark, “until you have buried someone you love, you won't understand how hard a Holiday, Birthday, or any other day is without them.”

“Fire’s Embrace” was inspired by the quote attributed to Hunter Stockton Thompson, “Blend in with the indigenous life, analyze their weaknesses, prepare the planet for the upcoming madness”.

“Barriers of the Flesh” is about encounters outside of conventional, accepted relationships.

Long ago I read a story about a group who would greet the sun everyday to ensure it would rise again.  My super hazy memory, backed up with the inability to find the source on the internet, had the group stating something like, "who knows what would happen if we didn’t do it? ".   My take-away is that the implied motivation is somewhere between insurance of the future and an action that feeds the group's soul.

I am seriously surprised, delightfully so, by the friends I have in the dance community.   Often I am chatted up by the unexpected person.  I welcome the interactions though I may not adequately show it.  They teach me about things I may have missed in my life experience, affirm my belief that humanity isn’t a failed enterprise, and help assure that I’m not alone in this world.

“Cringing Beast” was prompted by an experience in which a friend said something nice to me.  My reaction was one of disbelief, almost anger.   I realized that my self-worth was misbehaving.

The poem “Recumbent” was written in celebration of an accidental computer wallpaper assignment.   An amazing dip picture was featured on my screen and I’m not complaining.

The poem “Feelings Matter” was inspired by the quote, “I am an empty thing. A fragmented mutating subject.”  “No, you just feel that way,” they told me. “What’s the difference?” by Suzanne Scanlon.

The poem “Imposter Spun” is about the imposter syndrome,  a psychological pattern in which one doubts one's accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

The poem “Zero Sum” was written about the confluence of life.

The poem “Future A.D.” was inspired by the anxiety about the future.  What can I do?  Take care of myself.

The poem “She Slept” was inspired by a Tumblr posting that included the phrase “I thought she slept all the time and woke up occasionally to post what happened.”

The poem “Beware the Poets” was inspired by a meme that stated “You shouldn’t let poets lie to you.”

I saw a Tumblr shared video that presented Sinclair Broadcast Group newscasters saying THE SAME SCRIPT, WORD FOR WORD.  Propaganda some?  Soviet news casting is the nearest analogy I can imagine.  “Sinclair Clones” is about the disgust I have for this situation.

The poem “Stanza’s Meager Breadth” is a consideration of what I can convey via poetry versus what I’d like to write in longer blogs.

The poem "Cold Glass" was inspired by the song "Hall of Mirrors" by Kraftwork found on the album "3-D".

"Once Top or Bottom" was inspired by a conversation I had with a dear friend. While the poem could be about garment location, it is probably instead about some form of dancing.

The poem “Into The Dream” is about the tortured considerations in the dream world.

A purpose of poetry is to describe the indescribable, at least those parts that “normal” writing fails to simultaneously explain and hide the rawest parts of the poet’s life.

Darkness does have a place in creation. There is a tremendous power stored in the shadow. In the early 2000s I was told that I should be writing. At that time I struggled mightily with dark thoughts. I told myself, "I cannot write of what I know. Who wants to hear about madness?". Now I do write. My own shadow is still there. Now the darkness informs my writing, adding wisdom and insight. There are artists who's works are simultaneously very dark, even as they peers into the depths of the human experience. Sometimes it is difficult to look, read or listen to these creations. This is OK. The artist is creating for themselves and for those who are capable of sharing the vision. Deep down, the darkest of works are created with the mantra of "somebody will see this, somebody will recognize this". The shadow is crucial part of creation. Without the darkness, there cannot be light.

"In the beginning God created heaven and earth." So says Genesis 1:1. I say that God is still creating the heaven and the earth. We stare into the same void. We maintain our sanity and soul by seeing the void as a place of potential. What are we to do on this earth? What is our purpose? Merely create the best you can. On the sixth day, you too will say, "behold, it was very good".

The title of the poem “Things Left Unsaid” was inspired by the Pink Floyd album “Things Left Unsaid”.

The poem “Why Dear Mirror” is about the struggle of the outer not matching the inner.  This is a condition experienced by a wide range of people, with each situation asking for acceptance that comes with pain.

The poem “All There Is” was inspired by a Tumblr meme featuring the map of the world on a wall.  Above the map was the question, “is that all there is?”

The poem “After the Dirge” was inspired by a quote attributed to St. John the Divine: “None of the dead come back.  But some stay.”

The poem “Stranger’s Bane” speaks to my involvement on social media.