in lonesome darkness Week 5: The Altar the mind creates in lonesome darkness The Altar I worship at the altar of creativity I pray with every stroke of the brush every written word, a sacred text every sculpture, a totem every song, a muse I am creation and creator a medium of transcendence a poet of prophecy an icon and a shrine Description: This poem is a devotional ode to creativity as a sacred practice. Framing artistic acts as rituals of worship, it elevates making into

in lonesome darkness Week 4: Obsession the mind creates in lonesome darkness Obsession art is life  life is obsession  obsession is  art art is obsession obsession is life life is art Description: This poem is a minimalist meditation on creative identity, using repetition and circular structure to collapse the boundaries between art, life, and obsession. By turning these ideas over again and again, it suggests that creation is not separate from living but inseparable from it—

in lonesome darkness Week 3: A Seedling seeds grow in lonesome darkness Seedling You were a seedling a dream a sunrise a poem a creative force a troubled soul a lament a sunset a memory a seedling buried deep Description: This poem is a lyrical elegy that circles grief and remembrance. Through repetition and simple, elemental images—seedling, sunrise, sunset—it traces a life’s arc from possibility to loss, then returns to the image of burial as both ending and potential renew

in lonesome darkness Week 2: Wildflowers seeds grow in lonesome darkness Wildflowers I dreamt of living off the land. Simple. Free. Like wildflowers. Owning nothing and being owned by nothing. Untamed. Reckless. Moving as the wind. Unencumbered by ideology.  Natural. Open.  Imitating animals to become more human. Rooted like an old-growth forest. Sound. Hale. Touching the ground to liberate the soul. Description: This poem is a quiet manifesto for freedom and return. Using na

Over the next couple months, I will be sharing poems and reflections from "in lonesome darkness," a poetry book I wrote during the pandemic about loneliness and the gifts of forced isolation. I've included some descriptions and reflections for those who want to take a deeper dive into each poem. I will be posting a poem every week between January-April, as the winter months can be isolating and dark. Maybe they can also be a time of personal growth and transformation. I hope

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