“Thinking Of You”

The following is an older poem of mine, written some time during the latter half of my high school tenure about a friend* who was in the hospital at the time. It is among the first that I ever performed in front of an audience, and while perhaps not my best work in a literary sense, it remains sentimentally valuable to me:

*[To respect my friend’s privacy, I’ve changed her name in this copy of the poem]

Check back here next week for my new Christmas-related comedy poem!

An Ode to Frost

I have a very special poem to share today. I wrote it this afternoon while sitting at the foot of the gravestone of Robert Frost (see photo above). As soon as I began to write, I fell into the semi-trance under which some of my best work has been written, but which usually requires more time and effort to achieve than it did today. Being in Frost’s presence lifted my creative mind to a level of inspiration that I am only able to reach under near-perfect circumstances. Here is the result:

The Vow

I wrote this simple rhyme while I was in high school. It is a tribute to my late Grandfather, Robert Strauss, and appears as a part of a Van Dyke Brown photographic print which I assembled in one of my high school photography classes. The print also includes an image of my Grandparents and an image of myself reaching upward toward the clouds. I created four variations of the print, one of which I gave as a gift to my Grandmother. Eventually, I hope to scan or digitally photograph the best one of those prints, as well as my other non-digital photography projects, and add them to my DeviantART gallery. Until then, please enjoy the rhyme separately:

Dear Mommy

My friend Laurie’s mother passed away today, and since I cannot console her in person at this time, I wrote this poem for her. I hope it serves to show her that while I cannot fully understand how she feels right now, I am trying my best to imagine it, which is one way that I can seek to understand her pain. As I told Laurie on Facebook: “I may not be a religious man, but I believe in Heaven and I believe that you have a new Guardian Angel who will always be watching over you.”

Rest In Peace

 

I’ve Lost My Friend (For Jennifer Hrobuchak, In Memoriam)

I found out today that one of my recently-graduated college classmates, Jennifer Hrobuchak, was very recently killed in a car accident. While I did not know her as well as many of our other classmate did, reality of her death is hitting me harder the more I sit here thinking about it. As you know if you’ve read my blog before, I can best express myself through the writing of poetry. Therefore, I am dedicating this post to her memory. The poem below is actually quite old, having first been written in middle school and then rewritten in high school, yet I feel that tonight, it is taking on a whole new meaning for me. Please enjoy the poem, and RIP Jennifer Hrobuchak.

Buddy Boy (In memory of my beloved cat)

I still spend a lot of time thinking about Stormy, and this poem expresses my thoughts. Note: If you are interested in reading about the Rainbow Bridge, see here: http://www.petloss.com/rainbowbridge.htm

Walkin’ Jim Stoltz

Tonight’s poem is a tribute to the late & great Walkin’ Jim Stoltz. Jim was a singer, songwriter, hiker, naturalist, and so much more. Sadly, he passed away on Friday, September 3, 2010 after a battle with cancer. Within this poem, I have intentionally included many references to Jim’s songs.

Below the poem in this post, I have embedded a video of myself performing this poem at last year’s ALDHA (Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association) Gathering. At the very end of this post, I have provided a link to Jim’s official website. Enjoy, and RIP Jim.

Walkin’ Jim’s Website: http://walkinjim.com/