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I hasten away on a ship to new seas
To seize a new moment, to shake a new hand,
To hasten the day I return once again
With a bottle of poems washed up on the sand.

Poetry

Alphabetical list of poetry





 

Poet Rod Clark maintains that a poem is not a poem until it is read aloud to another person. It otherwise lies dormant in its cocoon, never to be born. I tend to agree, only because it suits my poetic experience. I was drawn to poetry from an early age, reading aloud first to my family, then to friends and classmates.

Two, perhaps three weeks a year would be devoted to poetry in my English classes, and I devoured those times. I would spend hours in the library, deep in the words of poets of our times and the past. At some point, I began writing my own verse, and soon began reading at open mic poetry events. I always felt that my poetry should breathe the air and scatter to the wind.

I write, not in abstraction or disguised imagery, but in plain words to be read, listened to, and understood (well, most of the time). I enjoy all forms of poetry and have a large library of other poets' books to gather inspiration.

A few years ago, I penned a couple of poems in a new and unique style, which was christened "Ekkensian" by Rod Clark (the above-mentioned poet). Professor Emeritus (San Francisco State University) and Poet Laureate (Pacifica, California) Clark then went on to write several Ekkensian poems, one of which won an award in a national poetry contest!

Select the tabs (Ekkensian Verse (Ekkens) and Ekkensian Verse (Others), and then write one of your own for inclusion on this site.

It seems, these days, there is an endless sea of poets washing up on our shores, like grunions on a moonlit night. It's time to grab a pail and go a-fishin'.

 


Above photograph: Piper's Dusk

Above poem: "Epilogue," from Collected Poetry of Thomas A. Ekkens—Early Works