Poeticmindset.com's "Poet of the Year"

Today I launched poeticmindset.com, a new poetry website, so come check it out. Write/post or submit to the ezine.

Today I have also decided to announce that I'll be picking poeticmindset's first Poet of the Year. This person has gone above and beyond in 2009 to write a daily poem. This person inspired me to write a poem a day in November, but this person has written a poem a day since January 1, 2009 (Think about that for a moment). Amazing. The poetry is raw, and from the gut. It is uncensored. These poems are true feelings expressed daily, a poetic diary, and I am honored to announce Ian Kellett as the inaugural Poet of the Year on poeticmindset.com.

A brief bit about Ian Kellett: Ian is a 43 year old fellow (loving dad) from Goole in England, striving to make the world a better, Yorkshire flavored place. He's been writing for 20 years, but only recently started organizing and collecting material in 2003. So far, he says, he's collected/written enough poetry to fill 11 books. He is currently finishing up his blog for 2009, which will be collected and bound come the last day of the year.

Check out Ian's blog "Moongoole", follow him on twitter - http://www.twitter.com/iangoole (again, he will say it like it is - be warned) ;)

All the best as you head into 2010 Ian, and I hope that in the future there will be a cash award. For now, I offer you props, and know that you have worked hard to earn this award.

Congratulations!

-Michael

Hold These Moments In Memory

There was a time

on a morning like today

I would walk to the end of the driveway
in my pajamas
pick up the morning paper
and make my way back to the kitchen

coffee awaiting me

the texture and feel of the morning against fingertips
now it's the click of keys pressed
mouse clicked
coffee still awaiting me

to start the day on my time

I still wake at five most mornings
thoughts waking before the sun
percolating with the brewing coffee

The family still sleeps at this hour

in the house
there is a quiet calm
no sense of urgency
respite before the day truly begins anew

In these morning moments
I read online news
drink coffee
some days I eat breakfast

I shower

and as the morning respite ticks onward
I begin to wonder
when the house will awaken
when the family will say good morning
in kisses, hugs and love

what better way to begin a day
before the chaos of morning

when
bowls are filled
glasses poured full
lunches made
everyone dressed
backpacks stuffed
shoes tied
jackets pulled on tight
and the hustle to get out the door
and into the day
as goodbyes are said
and kisses passed

and the morning
slips into a commute

and I stop
to hold these moments in memory

and I realize
I need to enjoy them more
as they're happening

-Michael Sesling

Blank Screen Before Me

after a month
on this
the 2nd to last night
of November

when I watched
the Great Blue Heron
sunlight glistening against
the expanse of wings

but now I sit
blank screen before me
until this moment
wondering
what to say

Haitian cuisine for dinner
D.B. Cooper story on t.v.
(wondering if Pilot, Co-Pilot
and stewardess created
the story)

nothing tempts the mind

not the story of
Policemen ambushed in a coffee shop
maybe another day

as my eyes
heavy

and forced to stay open
to write
these lines
as tired fingers press on
and I wonder
what tomorrow will bring
in my poeticmindset

-Michael Sesling

Love Flowed from Lips

and their words
vowels and consonants
debating morphology
as they imbibe
and drift
into each others dreams
climbing over their dipthongs
listening closely
to their words
they toasted to their life
at the start of New Year
pressing lips together as
the clock momentarily
was unmoving
and love
flowed from their lips

-Michael Sesling

Envelope Secrets

they post the mail

on a Thursday

afternoon

at the Post Office

which for over

100 years

has stood

in the same spot

unchanged

flag in the wind

the couple smile

as they

step in unison

heel to toe

hand in hand

lovers

partners

friends

for together

they carry

an envelope

with

handwritten

pages

stretching across

the time

of their life

together

thoughts delicate

upon sheets

divulging

their love

for one another

to be shared

in time

at a place

unknown

as they

kiss the envelope

and let it

slip from fingertips

and they turn

to head home

where

they will divulge

their secrets

and sip their cognac

Coltrane playing

in the background

with the lights

turned off

-Michael Sesling

And I Am Thankful

ambling
past the Granary Burial Ground
on a Wednesday afternoon
in November

a day like any other really
but with more hands
extended with
cups
hats
some voices being more forceful
others polite

the mist was hanging
unsure of itself

I think

as two of modernity's structures
in the distance
were partially hidden
the relatively new
juxtaposed to this

the third oldest burial ground in the city

people held onto suitcases and backpacks
making their way to train stations
on the day before Thanksgiving
shuffling
passed moments in hurried motions

(me on a typical day)

looking through the wrought iron fence
tourists were reading
as their children
played hide and seek
darting among the ancient gravestones
at this spot in the midst of Boston

where three signers of the Declaration of Independence are interred

but to my left
a man
in a tattered tan overcoat
stands
tin-can hand extended
beard overdue for a trim
(like I should speak)
silent

pigeons swooped from the sky in unison
squirrels rummaged for season's final meals

and my thoughts followed the kids' motions
hiding from reality behind gravestones

pondering a moment's significance
as my hand slipped into pocket
and change was dropped into a tin can
musicality to someone's ears
waking me from daydreams

I kept moving forward
the current world overtaking the historical

and I reminded myself
"if not but for the grace of G-d"

and I am thankful

-Michael Sesling

Sir Isaac for Some Reason in my Thoughts

the response
to an action
as Sir Isaac Newton
said
has
a reaction
an apple
supposedly
fell
from
a
tree
and Sir Isaac's
reaction
another theory
on gravity
a bump
on the head
that was
an action
that never happened
a life
distraction
for a person
who delved
into refraction
of light in a prism
and mathematics
and science
extended in a
universe to be
discovered

-Michael Sesling