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

“Scarlet’s Stain” was inspired by a Tumblr posting that featured paintings of the persecuted being burned at the stake.  This is not a regular occurrence in our modern world, but this does not mean that persecution doesn’t happen because people are perceived to be different from a larger norm.

The poem “Screams Echoed” was inspired by thoughts about toxic mirrors.  While they are desired, the results are damning to both the requester and the one supplying feedback.  The need to be seen in a certain way is poisoned by the uncharitable thoughts of others.

“Scribe’s Accomplishment came together as a response to the prompt “What is your personal vision of a successful life” and a friend blogging “I think a lot of art is trying to make someone love you’.  I suspect much of my poetry is seen by few, but I take solace that a small amount is seen by a few, and those few see something in me with the effort.

The poem “Secret Paths” was inspired by a conversation I had with a fellow dancer.  I stated that I felt a degree of healing from my public sharing of struggles.  Writing becomes a therapeutic pursuit.    My fellow dancer stated that they did write also, but they did not share any of it with other people.   In fact, some of the struggles were never directly documented as they remained bottled up in the self.  I asked why, and the dancer stated that young people, specifically teenagers, were very cruel.  To show weakness only invited attack.

“Seeking Change” is a poem of mixed metaphors.  There isn’t just one theme present.  There are at least two, maybe three.  The primary focus is that life escaped can become life lost to the same.

“Seeking Questions” as inspired by a Tumblr meme that spoke about people being questions instead of answers.  It seems to me that we’re also the answers in search of questions.  Too often there is an abundance of circumstances.  The answers are all around us.  The questions are the illusive factor as they would explain the intentions of a hidden world.

The poem “Seek the Villain” is about the inherent selfishness of humanity.  There are small transgressions and then there is more.  Integrity and guilt struggle in the midst.

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.

“Separate Shores” is about outward resignation versus inner pain.

The poem “Seraph Borne” was prompted by the words “fallen feather”.  The restrictions of the prompt disallowed the words feather, angel, or falling.

The poem “Set a Sentence” was inspired by a Facebook posting that stated, “when people my age are all afraid of the world that their kids are inheriting because of their irresponsible grandparents, it makes you take pause .”

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

The poem “**** Seen” is about one possible attribution of attraction.

“Shadows’ Blur” is about recognizing the darkness in like souls.

The poem “Shadows Dancing Round” is about the Reptilian Brain, the structure is in control of our innate and automatic self-preserving behavior patterns, which ensure our survival and that of our species.  I became interested in this topic because many actions of intolerance and hate are sprung not from highers realms of morality, even while the latter attempts to justify the outcomes.

The poem “Shadow’s Taint” is a testament to the long-term impact of depression.

A FB friend asked what possible intentions the Russians had for meddling in United States electoral affairs.   One of their friends responded with statements about politicians no longer in power.   This occurred multiple times as I kept asking about the Russian motivations.  My friend said, ‘they have (past politician) madness disorder.  They are incapable of talking about anything else”.  My poem “Shaking Past” was inspired by this interchange.

The poem “Shared By All” is about the sharing of the artist.  The irony is that their sharing only confirms the existence of others, with nothing truly new revealed.

“Share the Words” is about the writer’s place in both sharing their world and confirming the world shared by others.

The poem “Shed a Tear” is about tears shed at random moments and then the moments afterwards.

“Sheltered Gaps” is about the balm of sleep and other things.

I came across a friend’s post about the ability to exist between antagonistic polarities.  This seems contrary to the “winner take all” nature of many societal conflicts.   Desired outcomes are stated in black and white.  No deviations are possible.  This may work for the leaders, those who are called upon to maintain a cause’s forward momentum, but it can be incredibly destructive for those outside this hallowed bubble.  “Shepard’s Pie” is about this dichotomy.

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 “Shirking Rules” was loosely inspired by a two-panel cartoon.  Two children as a skeleton, “are you a girl or a boy?”  The skeleton replies, “I’m dead”.  This struck a chord in me.   Maintaining inner stability can be difficult as the ignorant and mean-spirited world buffets those who exist outside the normative.

The poem “Shoals of Xanadu” is about the life of self-discovery, one that leads to a desire to share the realized insights with others.

The poem “Shock of Verity” is about struggle and inevitably of strongly held identities.  The assumption of passing is held as a talisman that eventually loses out to the surety of the self.

The poem “Shock of Verity” is about struggle and inevitably of strongly held identities.  The assumption of passing is held as a talisman that eventually loses out to the surety of the self.

The poem “Shout for a Day” is about the desire to release emotion before it does worse than make noise.

The poem “Sight of Skin” was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend regarding social dancing. They had an attractive backless top on. I learned that my friend had a policy of only showing a certain amount of skin with each outfit. The options were back, front, and legs. The total sum of skin shown could not exceed an amount set by my friend’s choice. Why? They had found that guys were “triggered” by a threshold of skin shown. Too much, and the guys would make assumptions. The is followed by the guys being far too forward (handsy). I remarked that a guy would have to be almost naked before this happened to them. My friend agreed but mused that their choice of garments was driven by the unfortunate factor that guys operated by different rules.

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

The poem “Silence of Sanity” is about the need to vent when the world seems to be already filling all available space with its own outrage.

“Silence Was” was inspired by Marianne Moore’s quote, “the deepest feeling always shows itself in silence.”

The poem “Simulacrum” is about presenting yourself to the world.

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.

A portion of “Six Fathoms” was written during the Spring 2017 LEAF festival. The rest I wove in with the theme of the ocean.

The poem “Slaughterhouse Chutes” was written in response to a meme that stated, “the right woman can change a devil.”   My initial response was, “the right devil can destroy a woman.”  I am very much for avoiding the latter, destruction of an individual.    The changing of a single devil is not worth the legion of women destroyed in the attempt.

The poem “Sleep Mimics” was inspired by considerations about finding peace away from the waking world.

The poem "Smile as a Mask" is about the overshadowing of fatality based ideation.

The poem “Smoke or Bullets” is about the tools used by cult-like organizations.

The poem “Smooch’s Lure” was not written to **** the act of kissing.  The muse took the idea in that direction, and in the end, suggest that kissing is worth the aftermath.

The poem “Snake Eyes” is about the attempts made to escape this thing called life.  The poem was inspired by a Tumblr photo of a shopfront with the store name “Hauntings”.  A neon sign flashed in the window.  The words “99 cent Dreams” lured the buyer to an unknown fate.

The poem “Snapper’s Prompt” is about my discomfort with the “**** photo” side of photographic world.  There are positive reasons for a model to participate in the production of adult leaning photography.   Earning a living and embracing body positivity come to mind.  In fact, I support those who are employed by the *** industry.  I instead have concern with the photographers: peddlers and purveyors of the **** photos.   This may not make sense.   I have a line of thought that helps explain this, though it is not a catch-all defense.   I also embrace the submissive side of **** while being suspicious of those who play the dominate partner role.   Truthfully, I don’t trust dominates as a whole.  This applies to business and religion also.  While the sub/dom relationship can be balanced and supportive for both parties, the door is WAY too opened to the dominate exploiting a situation.  They ask for things that they can not deliver.  Going back to photographer, they may ask for perfectly perverted beauty, but they may be plain and unattractive themselves.  Their motivations are instead the photographer’s matched *******.  In my mind, for good or bad, I see the photographer as the dominate in the relationship between model and photographer.   There can be good there (not all photographers, not all doms), but I am so very uncomfortable about where the abuses can go.

A friend shared the Oscar Wilde quote, “I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”.  I can’t attest to why my friend posted this, but I can share that they are a person that successfully walks the line between being dogmatically good and embracing the vibrancy of life.  The quote also resonated with me.  It reminded me the appearance of hypocrisy may occur when a person attempts to be good all the time, but society states they are instead wicked in the same.  The pretending is then on the part of the larger group.

The poem “Sole Survivor” started out as a single quatrain that I struggled to expand upon.  I then was struck with the idea of an empty future, the result of an apocalyptic war between dreams and fears.

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

I appreciate a measure of solitude as an extroverted introvert. I also acknowledge that too much solitude can be harmful to the impacted individual. The introvert, and voices of negative self-worth, resist the social interactions that I really must embrace. The poem “Solitude Takes” is about the toxic nature of solitude and how it could be addressed.

The poem “Some Dance” was inspired by a classic line from the song "Hotel California".

The poem “Some Days” is about the struggle of making it to another chance to lay down.

The poem “Sometimes a Breath” was inspired by the quote “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” attributed to Mandy Hale.