~ Poem ~
I hold abiding regard for embracing diversity,
the import of the phrases “You Do You”,
“Do No Harm”, and “Leave No Trace”,
and the premise “I’m Ok, You’re Ok” too.
Just a bloke who seeks enlightenment
by engaging alternative points of view.
My poetry is about what’s pokin’ at me.
An ardently composed albeit unrefined melody.
Bits and pieces of heart and soul,
I pluck from the ether of my mind
in the wee hours
when it’s working overtime
and before the clamor
of consciousness undermine.
I do not suffer writer’s block.
Notions grow like wild flowers.
so I rarely need to concoct,
only to pluck
before consciousness devours.
Poems are profoundly personal expressions
and ask only to be perceived
without bias, or critique,
seeking only to opine.
And given the inherent harm of editing
I tender them largely unrefined.
offering no apology for their tenor,
it simply was what it was at the time.
My primitive, frank, and relatable rhymes
are depictions of life’s circumstance
written in the raw artless tenor of our times.
Just one bloke’s perspective are these
with no illusions of my significance
or of the import of my work.
It is cathartic and it elevates my chi.
Nor do I fret over how others
might judge my work or me for it,
for to do otherwise would inhibit me,
and a reticent self-conscious poet
is doomed to idle melancholy.
Ridge © 2023
