BrokenEchoes

I haven’t written much poetry over the past couple of weeks. I also haven’t sent in any new submissions. There isn’t anything major wrong, I’m just in the grip of a series of heavy grey days. Writing is hard when the fog sets in. Motivation slips. Words don’t come easily. I remind myself, though, that this will pass. It always does. Still, I hope it passes soon. Even in the grey stretches, I keep looking toward the work ahead. One project I’m excited about is a 25th anniversary edition of my very first collection, Broken Images . I’ll be correcting some lingering typos, creating a new cover, and adding updated front and back matter. Revisiting that early work sparks a strange nostalgia. I can scarcely remember writing some of these poems, and I can see how my voice has changed and grown over the years. Today’s spotlight poem is Cat Feet . It captures a quiet kind of moment, the kind that slips in unexpectedly and brings its own small peace. Cat Feet The soft bright morning Is mu...

  I’ve been thinking a lot about visibility lately. At times I feel both seen and unseen simultaneously. When I share my poetry, I’m visible. My words are honest, personal, and sometimes raw. I peel back layers I usually keep hidden in daily life. People who read my work see thoughts I don’t speak aloud. They see the vulnerable parts I often keep behind a calm, competent mask. And yet, I’m invisible. Not because I hide my writing, but because I’m still learning how to market it. In a crowded world of voices, mine hasn’t reached many ears. I can speak, but if no one is listening, the sound disappears before it’s truly heard. That’s the contradiction of showing your true self to the world while feeling like the world doesn’t notice. This week’s spotlight poem, Swampland , lives in that tension. It’s about being stuck somewhere in-between—between who I’ve been and who I hope to become, between the weight of the present and the pull of the future. Swampland Where I find myself no...

Writing Updates: This week, there’s not much to report in terms of progress. No new poems, no new submissions...yet. I did receive a rejection a few days ago, which always stings, but I will keep submitting. It is only a matter of time before my work finds an audience. I will send out more poems soon. Sometimes powerful work happens internally. I've been watching events happen around me, and the moments linger, and will perhaps in time be ideas, then a theme, then a poem. Sometimes that is how the process happens for me. Reflection: I’ve been thinking about how life just… goes on. Whether I’m writing or not, it doesn’t pause. Moments keep lining up, chaotic, and unpredictable. Emotions rise and fall, weather shifts, people bring their own brand of horror. Even when I feel stuck, the world keeps circling. I try to find some meaning in every day. It is comforting that some days, even when I am not putting pen to paper, I am still constructing stories, still stringing words toget...

📝  News from the week This past week, I wrote five new poems. I was pleased because I had been in a bit of  writing slump. If you have been following my content, you may already know that I try to write a poem every day. You may also know that if the words don't flow, I don't try to force them. After a couple of dry weeks, the words started flowing again.  I also submitted ten pieces to two different literary magazines. Every time I receive a rejection, I sent out two more. Sometimes sending submissions feels like screaming into the void. I'm going to keep trying though. It is just a matter of time until my work finds a home.  It’s been a week of steady effort, small wins, and quiet persistence. But it’s also been a week where I’ve felt the weight of the grind, that pressure to keep going, keep producing, keep submitting to a system that doesn't see you. That feeling is at the heart of this week’s spotlight poem. 

 I was supposed to write this yesterday, but I didn’t. There was no emergency, no pressing obligation. Nothing was standing in my way. I just couldn’t talk myself into starting. And that, sometimes, is the hardest part, getting starting. I haven't written many poems over the past couple of months. The blank feels heavy sometimes. It expects too much. I have however, been toying around with a sci-fi short story. A space heist story. I am not sure if it will turn out to be good, or if I will be able to figure out an ending for it, but it is something that I am having fun with. At least so far.  Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how quickly time slips through our fingers, especially during the moments we want most to hold onto. The quiet ones. The ones that seem like nothing on the surface but mean everything when they’re gone. That’s the essence of this week’s spotlight poem. 📝 Spotlight Poem: "Moment by Moment" You can read the full poem here: 👉 Moment by Moment It...

Lately, I’ve been caught in a writing slump. Not writer’s block exactly—more like a heavy silence.  I'm trying not to force anything. Forcing it only makes the silence more stubborn. I know this will pass. It always does. But when you're someone who uses writing to process the weight of the world, silence feels heavy. I’ve been trying to lean into stillness instead of panicking. To let the poems come when they’re ready, even if that means staring at blank pages for a while. To stay connected with the creative part of me, I’ve been revisiting past poems—some I’ve nearly forgotten writing. This week, I reread “Lost Humanity,” a piece I published in April, and it felt especially relevant. Poem Spotlight: “Lost Humanity” Read it here: Lost Humanity – Broken Echoes This poem reads like a dispatch from the edge of civilization; post-apocalyptic in setting, but emotionally rooted in something very human: grief. It opens abruptly: “All there is now is wasteland / With a few...

 Good evening everyone. Welcome to this week's blog post. 1. Writing/Life Update It has been a heavy week at work. There are chaotic elements in flux that I can't control, so I am trying to be flexible and go with the flow.  I didn't get much poetry written this week, but I did get a few hundred words of a short story drafted. I like the direction that it is going in. I think that I am enjoying the atmosphere. The plan is a sort of cyberpunk heist story, but it is still in its infancy so that may change.  I received my latest poetry collection back from my editor, put in the final touches, and self-published it yesterday. You can find hit here . I also made the front matter, back matter and cover myself. The image on the cover is a featureless silhouette of a person afloat in stylized water. The person could be you. It could be me. It could be any of us who are still trying to stay afloat.   I think it looks good. What do you think? 2. Featured Poem or Excerpt ...