My newest book of poetry is now available, While Death Waits.
It has been almost three years since I published my last collection of poetry (These Words Believe in Ghosts).
I wrote almost 300 poems in the time between the books. While Death Waits has only 62 of those poems. I have written about 100 blog posts in that time. Produced 7 seasons of my podcast For Love of Lyrics (season 8 in the works). And my son and I have done 40 episodes of The Creative Moment podcast. Been a guest on Dr. Michael Ingram’s Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio podcast twice. I have also been on Josh Grant’s Diabolic Shrimp show, twice!
I also taught poetic lessons for Move Me Poetry for their Teach Me Tuesday event. I have competed in two slam contests. Attended a handful of open mics in town (they have suspended the open mic nights for now).
And nothing has really changed.
Why am I sharing this info with you? Two reasons.
The first is I am honored to have done so many cool things. To meet people like Dr. Michael Ingram and Josh Grant. To build community with the poets at Move Me Poetry.
I have strengthened my poetry by stepping out of my comfort zone by competing in poetry slams and designing lessons.
I have been able to have deep conversations with my son and share my love of lyrics with people through podcasting.
I have written some cool poetry (yes, this is a plug for my book).
But I wouldn’t have done these things if I wasn’t chasing a dream. My life is richer because of my pursuit of being an author, being a poet people recognize.
But that is also the second reason I am writing this blog post. Nothing has really changed. I am still basically an unknown poet, unknown writer. Chasing dreams is hard. It challenges your convictions. Calls forth doubt like a sudden winter storm that draws out tears like slivers from your heart. The weight of fear and frustration wears me down, so I write about it…
which spurs me forward in chasing my dream of making a difference in this world with my words and leads to opportunities that I would never have if I didn’t chase this dream.
I’m excited to see what will be next… of course, I’ll write about it, so stay tuned.
It is all Connected 
Using my fears and darkest moments as fuel for my writing has changed my writing profoundly and brought me through situations I wasn’t sure I would get through.
Those have also been the pieces that seem to have touched readers most.
I guess, it always boils down to authenticity and integrity, although we are often told differently.
I loved your recent videos, Jamey, and suspected they might have been inspired by the idea of poetry slam.
Writing has always been a way to give a voice to our inner self. It’s scary at times to do that at times. That authenticity builds a connection with others because we feel where the writing comes from. It takes courage to write that way, I see those moments in your works!
Yes, the videos are my way of trying to work on ‘delivery’… I score well but didn’t make finals, and this summer there will be a slam competition to represent my state at nationals..
I appreciate you taking time to reply. 🙂
Good for you. I’ve dabbled a little in poetry. I find it to be very cathartic. Looking for meaningful words and transforming them into thoughts help release stress.