Random Thoughts: Collected Poems

Previously posted on December 11, 2017

One of the books I’m currently editing for publication is a collection of poems I’ve written within the last several years. Originally, I had thought to round out the collection with a set of poems from my college days with the intention of assembling approximately one hundred poems. The mysterious disappearance of the blue folder containing all of my older works has completely destroyed that entire plan. My son Scott informs me that most of the books of poetry he owns contain far less than a hundred poems, with the exception being several volumes of collected works, so maybe I’m overthinking.

In my mind, I’m still imagining a skinny paperback volume of at least a hundred pages, so maybe I can get by with eighty or so poems, some of which will need more than a single page. If I believe the critics, nobody buys poetry anyway, so I really shouldn’t be stressed about it. I may also be forced to rethink my title. In searching online, I found many books with the title Random Thoughts, and most of them were books of poetry. I guess there are a lot of poets who consider their works to be random in nature. Who would have thought?

In terms of style, most of my poems are basically free verse, although there are some rhyming poems that are more traditional. The topics are truly random. There are a number of people poems, inspired by family or friends. There are some poems about social issues and a lot of poems about situational things, just everyday life stuff. Overall, I think anyone who takes the time to read them will discover a few random thoughts that remind them of themselves. And usually that’s a good thing.

Here are a couple of poems from the collection.

Parenthood

I guess it sounds like bragging

When I talk about my kids,

But I wonder, don’t most parents

Sound the same?

With pride we list their virtues,

Cover up each tiny fault,

And polish up their halos

With acclaim.

Wedding Bells in Hell

I don’t really hate weddings,

Although I may have said so

In the past, once or twice,

Jokingly, of course.

But wearing a coat and tie

In the thousand degree

Texas summer heat

For an outdoor ceremony

In mid-afternoon

Could make one uncomfortable,

But I don’t really hate weddings.

Well, maybe just a little bit.