The poem “All I Can Expect” was inspired by a meme that stated the following: “Men cry / men break down / men suffer from eating disorders and body dysmorphia / men have suicidal thoughts / men die from suicide / men suffer from mental illness / it’s not unmanly to struggle / we need to encourage men to speak out, not letting them suffer in silence”. I responded to the meme with words contained in the poem: “I scream into the void and it whispers back. Am I deaf or is this all I can expect?”

“Beauty I Desire” was inspired by a Tumblr quote about appreciating beauty.

The poem “Explanations in Aftermath” was inspired by the quote, “Don’t let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of them.”

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

I was inspired to write “Bless Notes” while sitting in a mostly empty dance hall.

Chuck Palahniuk is credited with the quote, "I want out of the labels. I don't want my whole life crammed into a single word. A story. I want to find something else, unknowable, some place to be that's not on the map. A real adventure. A spinx. A mystery. A blank. Unknown. Undefined."  These thoughtful words inspired me to write “Behind the Mask”.

“Mourning’s Bed” was written against the prompt “the color black”.

The poem “Another Loser” was inspired by the tag line of a Tumblr account that stated “they’ll tell you I’m insane.”

The poem “Cloak of Silence” was partially inspired by a partial hearing loss I’m experiencing because of a sinus infection.

“Chimera’s Hope” is about polarities of life.  It was inspired by a Tumblr meme with the words “I Dream Here”.

I wrote “Rain Define” on a wet Saturday morning at the Lake Eden Art Festival.   The poem examines the positive aspects of rainy days.

Everyone lives life on a variety of experience spectrums.  Most are accepted by the majority of society.  I am blessed with friends with spectrum experiences that defy the patriarchal and hetronormative boundaries.  Society pushes back.  I live outside the boundaries of the normative, living in a dread of this impacting my well-being.  Why do we do this?  It is who we are.   The poem “Swim Through Life” is about living in the spectrums of life.

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.

“Distance Found” is a commentary on the danger of isolation while in the grip of depression.

A friend bemoaned the fashion choices, culture interests, and attitudes they embraced in their “youth”.     Little do they know of the secrets in my past!  “Chap You See” reviews the skeletons in my closet.

“What I’ll Disregard” is about the struggle of emotions against the bulwark of common societal norms.

“Upon a Hook” started out with the thought that the artist can draw in their audience with emotional expression.

I share a lot in the online social world.  The motivation comes from both childish humor and a burning desire for social change.  It comes from celebration of joy and the deepest of despondency.  The mixture appears to be quite mad, a broken agenda by a wounded heart.  In the midst of this I’ve wanted to ask my friends how I REALLY come across.  Am I the fool or the warrior?  Am I a peacemaker or a firebrand?  The answers to this question, and how I impact the world through my sharing, is only truly known by those beyond the herd.

“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”.

I watched a YouTube video that featured Jordan Peterson and two other commentators.   The discussion was ostensibly about free speech.  Jordan couldn’t resist talking about morality and its outcomes.  His comments about morality inspired me to write “Tilt Up or Down”.

“I Could Whisper” was motivated by events surrounding my sharing about mental illness.  People either changed the subject to something they related to, or they completely ignored what I was saying because the topic was uncomfortable(?).   This happened both online and in person.  It leaves the sharer knowing there is NOBODY out there.

The poem “Grist for Yesterday” is about the dynamics between the relativism of today and the nature of  memories.

“Evoke the Fall” is about recognition of past human right violations by ****** assault and harassment. The blessed wind blowing now is impacting people who previously thought they were safe.

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

“Alien Girl” was partially inspired by a trailer for the movie “How to Talk to Girls at Parties”.  The film is a sci-fi tale about a punk rocker who falls for a beautiful alien girl in 1970s London.

Extreme moderation, verging on abstinence, leads to a happy void of pleasantness.  “Scarcity” explores this line of thought.

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 “Another Day Beyond” is about the wait between social dance events.

I had a delightful meal with a friend.   They asked me if I had a favorite poem among the 1300+ that I’ve written.  This discussion inspired me to write the poem “My Favorite Child”.

Sometimes people change their names.  This is done for many reasons.   The poem “Like the Rest” is about the struggle of the trans person to find their name.

The poem “Another Tick” is about the struggle to make a lasting impact on the world.

“Those Who Struggle” is about the ******* experience.   Gender identity, separate from ****** preference or romantic preference, is pursued for the integrity of an individual.   The struggle is real, often invisible, and very urgent for wholeness attained.

The poem “Twice Right Each Day” was inspired by a meme that compared broken clocks to people.  A broken clock could be detected.  Broken people defy the same.

An online friend came into the cross-hairs of the heated online reactions. They were fighting for changes to a social environment, with the desired result being less patriarchal and less hetronormative. Some people pushed back, with the exclamation of “(don’t) try to change our traditions, call(ing) the values we hold hateful, call(ing) our traditions exclusive despite all evidence to the contrary”. Another said, “this didn't used to be an issue in the scene when I started, because we left politics and agendas at the door”. These are typical, but heated, remarks seen when activists are at work. I’ve seen strong parallels in the area of marriage quality.

My heart further went out to my friend when they began to, completely separately, organize a meet-up of people in a minority group. An online pundit accused my friend of being a bigot, guilty of using activism “as a f*cking front”.

All of this prompted me to write the poem "*******". The speaker of the poem is somewhere in the majority, pushing back against a minority seeking rights and accommodation. My apologies for using descriptive language, but these are the typical reactions, intended or otherwise, of those in a state of majority normality when change is afoot.

“Art the Day” is about the pursuit of artistic efforts.  The “payback” may be minimal or even negative.   I used to play games on my consoles, but not now!   My free time is taken up with either poetry or photographs.  The writing takes at least an hour a day.   The pics are could consume weeks if I manage to catch up on the back-log.  What do I get out of these efforts other than a “drain” on my free time?   The benefits are much more than the monetary alternatives!

“We’re All Magicians” was inspired by a cartoon that commented that a together life was a finely-crafted illusion.

The poem “Beauty Found” is about how much more beautiful my friends are than perhaps they themselves believe.

“Beware The Promise” is about the pitfalls of physical companionship outside of loving relationships.

The poem “A Greater Truth” is about discovering the self.

“Pointing Westward” is about the struggle of high-functioning depression.

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

“The Lens” was inspired by a prompt that asked for the line “the lens through which we view” to be used.  On the previous day our 45th decided the six month cessation of the DACA program.  To me, this is a decision driven by political appetites with very little, if any, empathy for those most harshly impacted.  There are some very evil lens through which people can view the world.  Sadly, there is little recognition of this as the lens create their reality.

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

“On The Verge” is very loosely inspired by Frank Kafka’s quote “There are ghosts that haunt one in company and those that haunt one in solitude”.

The poem “Union’s Light” was inspired by thoughts of my struggle and how I draw strength from knowing there are others who have similar frames of reference.

The poem “A Mess Resides” is about the embarrassing matters revealed when masks are dropped.

The poem “Against the Barbs” was inspired by a Twitter post that stated in part, “(statements like) 'criticism makes you bad and negative' scare me, because what they actually mean is keep your opinions to yourself and let the thing go unchallenged or face social consequences.”  I agree this is the implied statement.  In response, activism has a place, if only to both defend and educate.  We are good. The larger world may believe otherwise, even as it asks us to accept false judgments.

‘Gender’s Span’ is dedicated to those people who orient towards pansexuality.

The poem “Solidarity” was inspired by an unforgettable sequence in a dream.

I watched a video in which Melanie Murphy, a YouTube presenter and author, talking about what she wears. This inspired me to write “Choose For The Day”.