tldr
i write books. what i have published falls into three main categories – poetry, fiction and non-fiction or educational work. my poetry is mostly modern, free-verse and i have focused mostly on questions of identity, gender, sexuality, grief and love.
you can read some of my work here and all my recent collections of poetry are available at major bookstores including your local amazon store.
any teachers wishing to use my work in-class are welcome to copy it at no cost and i will gladly consult if you get in touch. i often write commissioned work, often free if for a non-profit organization.
i also write translations, especially classical poetry and buddhist/shinto scriptures. as an educator and academic, i have various writings on educational theory and practice and other disciplines.
my writing
We do not simply take words, take language, and use it for communication. The spoken, written word is music that when connected with idea and the pursuit of beauty lifts us humans from the base reality of existence to an existence that can only be understood as spiritual, being one with the present energy of life in symbiosis with thought and image and sound.
How are we ever to realize that we are all one, all family, humans and flowers alike, fish and birds alike, if we do not listen when another speaks, read when another writes, love when another touches our soul?
I am a writer. I hesitate to use words like author or composer or poet. They apply to some but, while I create in those forms, I have not devoted my life to their pursuit and do not claim mastery or even a committed striving for mastery. What I create is a wholehearted attempt at beauty but not a striving for the ultimate perfection of the form in which I write. What you will find here is a collection on work that I make available to you for your pleasure and to provoke your thought.
If an empty mind is what we seek, there is no need for words. If, however, a mind of beauty and limitless compassion for the world around us is our goal, we must fill that mind with the language of love and the spirit of acceptance in this moment.
for hundreds of years, western society has looked at poetry as something reserved for the elite, hated by the general public. “i don’t get poetry” has been a declaration of being normal.
that’s because we have been forced to read badly-written, outdated poetry in a language only vaguely related to modern english in schools.
poetry is a way to turn everyday language into beauty, both stunning images and creative expressions. it’s not just for those trapped in ivory towers or pining for the second coming of shakespeare.
care to explore some poetry in modern english?
(by the way, i write traditional-style poetry, too, though it’s all in modern english.)
we all have stories to tell. the trick is telling the interesting ones in ways that people want to experience. retelling daily life is mind-numbing and undesirable. we read to escape. we read to walk away from our lives.
our stories are who we are. they define us, enlighten us, entertain us and educate us.
from the tiniest flash fiction spanning barely a single page to the longest multivolume novel, our lives are written in the pages of the stories we tell.
rights
I retain copyright over this material but I believe that the pursuit of peacefulness through language and music is something that, to the extent possible, should be available to all people. I will make you somewhat of an agreement and it is up to you if you hold to the part that I propose for you but I do hope that you will.
To have the right words in your heart, your mind, your soul, that is to touch the earth with understanding.
All the material here is free to read, to listen to, to share. If you find happiness from any of what I have shared with you, I ask that you let me know, not so that I can provide you more material or send you promotional emails but so that I may know that in some way I have been successful in the only way that matters, to have connected with someone through their happiness. Beyond that, I know that much of what is here is written for performance, be it music or public reading. I do not propose to charge you for the use of the material and I do not wish to restrict its use. I will not place watermarks or print restrictions on my music and poetry. All I ask is that you share with me where and when it is being performed and, if possible, send me a recording — not for public sharing, that is, simply for me to have the enjoyment that comes from knowing that my creative work is being shared into the world. You are under no obligation to follow these hopes but I do ask it of you.
If you never share yourself, what use is it to find yourself, be yourself, live as yourself?