James Nystrom
@nytropoet.bsky.social
Poet, Writer, Entrepreneur,
Traveler
Traveler
Exceptions
Exceptions
Do not prove rules.
Anecdotal accounts
Lead to dubious
Conclusions.
Only burden
Of evidence
Gives proof
As experts
Deduce
Rather than
Induce
From hard data:
No assertions
With agendas
To impose.
Exceptions
Present threats
To verification.
Proven facts
Thwart deceivers.
Exceptions
Do not prove rules.
Anecdotal accounts
Lead to dubious
Conclusions.
Only burden
Of evidence
Gives proof
As experts
Deduce
Rather than
Induce
From hard data:
No assertions
With agendas
To impose.
Exceptions
Present threats
To verification.
Proven facts
Thwart deceivers.
November 22, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Exceptions
Exceptions
Do not prove rules.
Anecdotal accounts
Lead to dubious
Conclusions.
Only burden
Of evidence
Gives proof
As experts
Deduce
Rather than
Induce
From hard data:
No assertions
With agendas
To impose.
Exceptions
Present threats
To verification.
Proven facts
Thwart deceivers.
Exceptions
Do not prove rules.
Anecdotal accounts
Lead to dubious
Conclusions.
Only burden
Of evidence
Gives proof
As experts
Deduce
Rather than
Induce
From hard data:
No assertions
With agendas
To impose.
Exceptions
Present threats
To verification.
Proven facts
Thwart deceivers.
Make Something Happen
W. H. Auden wrote,
“Poetry makes
nothing happen,”
yet poetry
might inspire someone
to make something happen
if the ideas
are powerful enough,
the feelings
are strong enough,
and the thoughts
are deep enough.
Who knows
what will be done
if the poetry
is good enough?
W. H. Auden wrote,
“Poetry makes
nothing happen,”
yet poetry
might inspire someone
to make something happen
if the ideas
are powerful enough,
the feelings
are strong enough,
and the thoughts
are deep enough.
Who knows
what will be done
if the poetry
is good enough?
November 21, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Make Something Happen
W. H. Auden wrote,
“Poetry makes
nothing happen,”
yet poetry
might inspire someone
to make something happen
if the ideas
are powerful enough,
the feelings
are strong enough,
and the thoughts
are deep enough.
Who knows
what will be done
if the poetry
is good enough?
W. H. Auden wrote,
“Poetry makes
nothing happen,”
yet poetry
might inspire someone
to make something happen
if the ideas
are powerful enough,
the feelings
are strong enough,
and the thoughts
are deep enough.
Who knows
what will be done
if the poetry
is good enough?
Author And Actor
Reciting a poem
From memory
Turns creativity
On its head
As it balances
Writer and player,
Author and actor,
Inspiration and interpretation.
Art inspires art
And genius
On both sides
Gives wings
To angels
Almost invisible
To sight
But obvious in imagination.
Reciting a poem
From memory
Turns creativity
On its head
As it balances
Writer and player,
Author and actor,
Inspiration and interpretation.
Art inspires art
And genius
On both sides
Gives wings
To angels
Almost invisible
To sight
But obvious in imagination.
November 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Author And Actor
Reciting a poem
From memory
Turns creativity
On its head
As it balances
Writer and player,
Author and actor,
Inspiration and interpretation.
Art inspires art
And genius
On both sides
Gives wings
To angels
Almost invisible
To sight
But obvious in imagination.
Reciting a poem
From memory
Turns creativity
On its head
As it balances
Writer and player,
Author and actor,
Inspiration and interpretation.
Art inspires art
And genius
On both sides
Gives wings
To angels
Almost invisible
To sight
But obvious in imagination.
Old Movie
Watching an old movie,
Romantic Rom-com,
Every year
Around the holidays
Is sweet remembrance
Of the romance
Of our own:
How we met,
How love grew,
How it endures.
Hopefully,
The old movie
Will be repeated
Again next year.
Watching an old movie,
Romantic Rom-com,
Every year
Around the holidays
Is sweet remembrance
Of the romance
Of our own:
How we met,
How love grew,
How it endures.
Hopefully,
The old movie
Will be repeated
Again next year.
November 19, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Old Movie
Watching an old movie,
Romantic Rom-com,
Every year
Around the holidays
Is sweet remembrance
Of the romance
Of our own:
How we met,
How love grew,
How it endures.
Hopefully,
The old movie
Will be repeated
Again next year.
Watching an old movie,
Romantic Rom-com,
Every year
Around the holidays
Is sweet remembrance
Of the romance
Of our own:
How we met,
How love grew,
How it endures.
Hopefully,
The old movie
Will be repeated
Again next year.
Talent Chance
Ability
And potential
Are subject
To vagaries
Of chance
As success
Is never guaranteed
For genius
To be acknowledged
As talent chance
Might not
Be discovered
In crowded milieu
Of expression.
Ability
And potential
Are subject
To vagaries
Of chance
As success
Is never guaranteed
For genius
To be acknowledged
As talent chance
Might not
Be discovered
In crowded milieu
Of expression.
November 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Talent Chance
Ability
And potential
Are subject
To vagaries
Of chance
As success
Is never guaranteed
For genius
To be acknowledged
As talent chance
Might not
Be discovered
In crowded milieu
Of expression.
Ability
And potential
Are subject
To vagaries
Of chance
As success
Is never guaranteed
For genius
To be acknowledged
As talent chance
Might not
Be discovered
In crowded milieu
Of expression.
Argument
Argument presents
A problem
In very nature
Because of instinct
To protect ego
Driving need
To win battle
Despite content
Of disagreement.
If argument persists
Into passage
of time,
Positions do not soften;
They bury themselves
In foxholes
of opposition.
Argument presents
A problem
In very nature
Because of instinct
To protect ego
Driving need
To win battle
Despite content
Of disagreement.
If argument persists
Into passage
of time,
Positions do not soften;
They bury themselves
In foxholes
of opposition.
November 17, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Argument
Argument presents
A problem
In very nature
Because of instinct
To protect ego
Driving need
To win battle
Despite content
Of disagreement.
If argument persists
Into passage
of time,
Positions do not soften;
They bury themselves
In foxholes
of opposition.
Argument presents
A problem
In very nature
Because of instinct
To protect ego
Driving need
To win battle
Despite content
Of disagreement.
If argument persists
Into passage
of time,
Positions do not soften;
They bury themselves
In foxholes
of opposition.
Freeways
Driving freeways
Is a matter
Of timing:
Right hour,
Right day,
Right moment.
What was a leisure
Road journey
With an open end,
Now is a race
To the finish
As fast as possible
So as to avoid
Bad traffic,
Bad drivers,
Bad luck.
Driving freeways
Is a matter
Of timing:
Right hour,
Right day,
Right moment.
What was a leisure
Road journey
With an open end,
Now is a race
To the finish
As fast as possible
So as to avoid
Bad traffic,
Bad drivers,
Bad luck.
November 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Freeways
Driving freeways
Is a matter
Of timing:
Right hour,
Right day,
Right moment.
What was a leisure
Road journey
With an open end,
Now is a race
To the finish
As fast as possible
So as to avoid
Bad traffic,
Bad drivers,
Bad luck.
Driving freeways
Is a matter
Of timing:
Right hour,
Right day,
Right moment.
What was a leisure
Road journey
With an open end,
Now is a race
To the finish
As fast as possible
So as to avoid
Bad traffic,
Bad drivers,
Bad luck.
Hedge Act
Money actors
Are dramas,
Not just zeroes,
But commas.
Money actors
Are dramas,
Not just zeroes,
But commas.
November 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Hedge Act
Money actors
Are dramas,
Not just zeroes,
But commas.
Money actors
Are dramas,
Not just zeroes,
But commas.
Churchillian
Impaled upon the riddle
Of a dilemma,
Enmeshed in the web
Of an enigma,
Wrapped in the plot
Of a mystery,
Will it be lost
Before it is found?
Which Churchillian
Inspired resolution
Might save me?
Impaled upon the riddle
Of a dilemma,
Enmeshed in the web
Of an enigma,
Wrapped in the plot
Of a mystery,
Will it be lost
Before it is found?
Which Churchillian
Inspired resolution
Might save me?
November 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Churchillian
Impaled upon the riddle
Of a dilemma,
Enmeshed in the web
Of an enigma,
Wrapped in the plot
Of a mystery,
Will it be lost
Before it is found?
Which Churchillian
Inspired resolution
Might save me?
Impaled upon the riddle
Of a dilemma,
Enmeshed in the web
Of an enigma,
Wrapped in the plot
Of a mystery,
Will it be lost
Before it is found?
Which Churchillian
Inspired resolution
Might save me?
Retribution
This is the power
Of the undead;
To live forever
On tainted blood
Sucked from necks
Of fellow travelers
Who tasted temptation
Now stalked
By nightmares
With retribution
As rueful as
The vampire
That was created
Out of hidden hell:
The Ghost
Of Jeffrey Epstein.
This is the power
Of the undead;
To live forever
On tainted blood
Sucked from necks
Of fellow travelers
Who tasted temptation
Now stalked
By nightmares
With retribution
As rueful as
The vampire
That was created
Out of hidden hell:
The Ghost
Of Jeffrey Epstein.
November 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Retribution
This is the power
Of the undead;
To live forever
On tainted blood
Sucked from necks
Of fellow travelers
Who tasted temptation
Now stalked
By nightmares
With retribution
As rueful as
The vampire
That was created
Out of hidden hell:
The Ghost
Of Jeffrey Epstein.
This is the power
Of the undead;
To live forever
On tainted blood
Sucked from necks
Of fellow travelers
Who tasted temptation
Now stalked
By nightmares
With retribution
As rueful as
The vampire
That was created
Out of hidden hell:
The Ghost
Of Jeffrey Epstein.
Gilded
Walls gilded
In guilt
Glittering in glare
Of reality
Shining light
On dichotomy
Of starving
Next to excess
So wretched
That gold
Cannot stay.
Walls gilded
In guilt
Glittering in glare
Of reality
Shining light
On dichotomy
Of starving
Next to excess
So wretched
That gold
Cannot stay.
November 12, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Gilded
Walls gilded
In guilt
Glittering in glare
Of reality
Shining light
On dichotomy
Of starving
Next to excess
So wretched
That gold
Cannot stay.
Walls gilded
In guilt
Glittering in glare
Of reality
Shining light
On dichotomy
Of starving
Next to excess
So wretched
That gold
Cannot stay.
Beauty In Negation
Beauty
in negation
is celebrated
in the natural:
fading greenery
cattails browning,
leaves yellow,
mood turning blue.
Beauty
in negation
is celebrated
in the natural:
fading greenery
cattails browning,
leaves yellow,
mood turning blue.
November 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Beauty In Negation
Beauty
in negation
is celebrated
in the natural:
fading greenery
cattails browning,
leaves yellow,
mood turning blue.
Beauty
in negation
is celebrated
in the natural:
fading greenery
cattails browning,
leaves yellow,
mood turning blue.
Fetid
On damp carpet
of forest floor,
fetid fall is underway:
stalks fallen,
pumpkins slumping,
killing frost
is on the way.
Now is time
for decomposition.
In order for spring
to show greenery,
natural fertilization
must work magic
with odor of rot
and transform
waste to wonder.
On damp carpet
of forest floor,
fetid fall is underway:
stalks fallen,
pumpkins slumping,
killing frost
is on the way.
Now is time
for decomposition.
In order for spring
to show greenery,
natural fertilization
must work magic
with odor of rot
and transform
waste to wonder.
November 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Fetid
On damp carpet
of forest floor,
fetid fall is underway:
stalks fallen,
pumpkins slumping,
killing frost
is on the way.
Now is time
for decomposition.
In order for spring
to show greenery,
natural fertilization
must work magic
with odor of rot
and transform
waste to wonder.
On damp carpet
of forest floor,
fetid fall is underway:
stalks fallen,
pumpkins slumping,
killing frost
is on the way.
Now is time
for decomposition.
In order for spring
to show greenery,
natural fertilization
must work magic
with odor of rot
and transform
waste to wonder.
No Renumeration
With Poetry
Coins do not clink
And money
Does not fold
In banks
Of literary genius;
The “Dead Art”
Rewards writers
With one-hand claps
And silent cheers,
Given quietly
To a legacy
Of imagination.
With Poetry
Coins do not clink
And money
Does not fold
In banks
Of literary genius;
The “Dead Art”
Rewards writers
With one-hand claps
And silent cheers,
Given quietly
To a legacy
Of imagination.
November 9, 2025 at 5:22 PM
No Renumeration
With Poetry
Coins do not clink
And money
Does not fold
In banks
Of literary genius;
The “Dead Art”
Rewards writers
With one-hand claps
And silent cheers,
Given quietly
To a legacy
Of imagination.
With Poetry
Coins do not clink
And money
Does not fold
In banks
Of literary genius;
The “Dead Art”
Rewards writers
With one-hand claps
And silent cheers,
Given quietly
To a legacy
Of imagination.
Painter
Masterly alchemy
Of painter’s palette
And transcendence
Of magic brush
Reveals artist’s vision
Of creation,
Holds imagination
In awe
And bestows
Upon the world
A revelation.
Masterly alchemy
Of painter’s palette
And transcendence
Of magic brush
Reveals artist’s vision
Of creation,
Holds imagination
In awe
And bestows
Upon the world
A revelation.
November 8, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Painter
Masterly alchemy
Of painter’s palette
And transcendence
Of magic brush
Reveals artist’s vision
Of creation,
Holds imagination
In awe
And bestows
Upon the world
A revelation.
Masterly alchemy
Of painter’s palette
And transcendence
Of magic brush
Reveals artist’s vision
Of creation,
Holds imagination
In awe
And bestows
Upon the world
A revelation.
Woodpiles
Nooked up in metal lids
Carefully stacked cords
Of seasoned alder splits
Are future guarantees
Of warm, tucking winter.
Lots of woodpiles;
Perhaps a few too many,
Perhaps enough for forever,
Or at least until spam
And toilet paper run out
Nooked up in metal lids
Carefully stacked cords
Of seasoned alder splits
Are future guarantees
Of warm, tucking winter.
Lots of woodpiles;
Perhaps a few too many,
Perhaps enough for forever,
Or at least until spam
And toilet paper run out
November 7, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Woodpiles
Nooked up in metal lids
Carefully stacked cords
Of seasoned alder splits
Are future guarantees
Of warm, tucking winter.
Lots of woodpiles;
Perhaps a few too many,
Perhaps enough for forever,
Or at least until spam
And toilet paper run out
Nooked up in metal lids
Carefully stacked cords
Of seasoned alder splits
Are future guarantees
Of warm, tucking winter.
Lots of woodpiles;
Perhaps a few too many,
Perhaps enough for forever,
Or at least until spam
And toilet paper run out
Next Climate Down
River was called
A slough
Where rank water
Barely escaped
A swamp
Instead flowed
Incipiently into
A lake
As black water
Washed away
Ruined reputation
Obscurely hidden
Where only toads
On sodden lilies
Reaped ruin
Of broken genes
When rain tainted
A stream
Next climate down.
River was called
A slough
Where rank water
Barely escaped
A swamp
Instead flowed
Incipiently into
A lake
As black water
Washed away
Ruined reputation
Obscurely hidden
Where only toads
On sodden lilies
Reaped ruin
Of broken genes
When rain tainted
A stream
Next climate down.
November 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Next Climate Down
River was called
A slough
Where rank water
Barely escaped
A swamp
Instead flowed
Incipiently into
A lake
As black water
Washed away
Ruined reputation
Obscurely hidden
Where only toads
On sodden lilies
Reaped ruin
Of broken genes
When rain tainted
A stream
Next climate down.
River was called
A slough
Where rank water
Barely escaped
A swamp
Instead flowed
Incipiently into
A lake
As black water
Washed away
Ruined reputation
Obscurely hidden
Where only toads
On sodden lilies
Reaped ruin
Of broken genes
When rain tainted
A stream
Next climate down.
Party Kills
Greedy party men
Drank women
In oversized martinis
As poverty starved
Margin people
Begged food
In lean streets
While lucky dined
On caviar,
As if stinky eggs
Without enough cake
To survive the party
Fitzgerald ridiculed
In fiction accusation.
Party kills
Not in intention
But in fact.
Greedy party men
Drank women
In oversized martinis
As poverty starved
Margin people
Begged food
In lean streets
While lucky dined
On caviar,
As if stinky eggs
Without enough cake
To survive the party
Fitzgerald ridiculed
In fiction accusation.
Party kills
Not in intention
But in fact.
November 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Party Kills
Greedy party men
Drank women
In oversized martinis
As poverty starved
Margin people
Begged food
In lean streets
While lucky dined
On caviar,
As if stinky eggs
Without enough cake
To survive the party
Fitzgerald ridiculed
In fiction accusation.
Party kills
Not in intention
But in fact.
Greedy party men
Drank women
In oversized martinis
As poverty starved
Margin people
Begged food
In lean streets
While lucky dined
On caviar,
As if stinky eggs
Without enough cake
To survive the party
Fitzgerald ridiculed
In fiction accusation.
Party kills
Not in intention
But in fact.
Transcendent
Love is not seen,
Not heard,
Nor even
Easily found;
But when it is there,
Love is transcendent.
Love is not seen,
Not heard,
Nor even
Easily found;
But when it is there,
Love is transcendent.
November 4, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Transcendent
Love is not seen,
Not heard,
Nor even
Easily found;
But when it is there,
Love is transcendent.
Love is not seen,
Not heard,
Nor even
Easily found;
But when it is there,
Love is transcendent.
Basketball Motion
Envisioned by Naismith,
Basketball was finesse
Rewarding care
Of bouncing ball
Through pinpoint passes
And sharp shooting
That took all
Of agility,
Filling baskets
With blown leather
And hustling
Like prey herds
On migration:
Lean, elusive
In poetic motion.
Envisioned by Naismith,
Basketball was finesse
Rewarding care
Of bouncing ball
Through pinpoint passes
And sharp shooting
That took all
Of agility,
Filling baskets
With blown leather
And hustling
Like prey herds
On migration:
Lean, elusive
In poetic motion.
November 3, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Basketball Motion
Envisioned by Naismith,
Basketball was finesse
Rewarding care
Of bouncing ball
Through pinpoint passes
And sharp shooting
That took all
Of agility,
Filling baskets
With blown leather
And hustling
Like prey herds
On migration:
Lean, elusive
In poetic motion.
Envisioned by Naismith,
Basketball was finesse
Rewarding care
Of bouncing ball
Through pinpoint passes
And sharp shooting
That took all
Of agility,
Filling baskets
With blown leather
And hustling
Like prey herds
On migration:
Lean, elusive
In poetic motion.
Mystery
There is a veil
That thinly covers
The mystery of life.
Humans live
And have to die
All the while sensing
The vague etherial
That surrounds them
But they cannot
Lift that veil
To view the face
Of eternal ecstasy.
There is a veil
That thinly covers
The mystery of life.
Humans live
And have to die
All the while sensing
The vague etherial
That surrounds them
But they cannot
Lift that veil
To view the face
Of eternal ecstasy.
November 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Mystery
There is a veil
That thinly covers
The mystery of life.
Humans live
And have to die
All the while sensing
The vague etherial
That surrounds them
But they cannot
Lift that veil
To view the face
Of eternal ecstasy.
There is a veil
That thinly covers
The mystery of life.
Humans live
And have to die
All the while sensing
The vague etherial
That surrounds them
But they cannot
Lift that veil
To view the face
Of eternal ecstasy.
Night Visits
Dreams come visiting
In sleep of night
Completely uninvited;
Scenes are unveiled
Of unscripted play
Is unconscious mind
Unleashed from reality
Into unfamiliar world
Where past
Echos in frustration
As grasp of control
Drifts in and out
Of cloudy pattern
Of reflection.
reflection.
Dreams come visiting
In sleep of night
Completely uninvited;
Scenes are unveiled
Of unscripted play
Is unconscious mind
Unleashed from reality
Into unfamiliar world
Where past
Echos in frustration
As grasp of control
Drifts in and out
Of cloudy pattern
Of reflection.
reflection.
November 1, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Night Visits
Dreams come visiting
In sleep of night
Completely uninvited;
Scenes are unveiled
Of unscripted play
Is unconscious mind
Unleashed from reality
Into unfamiliar world
Where past
Echos in frustration
As grasp of control
Drifts in and out
Of cloudy pattern
Of reflection.
reflection.
Dreams come visiting
In sleep of night
Completely uninvited;
Scenes are unveiled
Of unscripted play
Is unconscious mind
Unleashed from reality
Into unfamiliar world
Where past
Echos in frustration
As grasp of control
Drifts in and out
Of cloudy pattern
Of reflection.
reflection.
Art And Science
With the esoteric
In commonality,
Art and finance
Fly beyond each other
In a ratified atmosphere
Where only cognoscenti
Have a clue
As to a direction
And only the naive
Have a certainty
As to success.
With the esoteric
In commonality,
Art and finance
Fly beyond each other
In a ratified atmosphere
Where only cognoscenti
Have a clue
As to a direction
And only the naive
Have a certainty
As to success.
October 31, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Art And Science
With the esoteric
In commonality,
Art and finance
Fly beyond each other
In a ratified atmosphere
Where only cognoscenti
Have a clue
As to a direction
And only the naive
Have a certainty
As to success.
With the esoteric
In commonality,
Art and finance
Fly beyond each other
In a ratified atmosphere
Where only cognoscenti
Have a clue
As to a direction
And only the naive
Have a certainty
As to success.
Resolution
In writing thoughts
In the form
Of poetry,
It is difficult
To avoid pitfalls
Of hackneyed ideas
And cliched plot,
Trying to avoid
Obvious adjective
And easy verb
While inspiring
Through originality
The reader
To continue
Until the end
Where resolution
Can abide
In literary reflection.
In writing thoughts
In the form
Of poetry,
It is difficult
To avoid pitfalls
Of hackneyed ideas
And cliched plot,
Trying to avoid
Obvious adjective
And easy verb
While inspiring
Through originality
The reader
To continue
Until the end
Where resolution
Can abide
In literary reflection.
October 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Resolution
In writing thoughts
In the form
Of poetry,
It is difficult
To avoid pitfalls
Of hackneyed ideas
And cliched plot,
Trying to avoid
Obvious adjective
And easy verb
While inspiring
Through originality
The reader
To continue
Until the end
Where resolution
Can abide
In literary reflection.
In writing thoughts
In the form
Of poetry,
It is difficult
To avoid pitfalls
Of hackneyed ideas
And cliched plot,
Trying to avoid
Obvious adjective
And easy verb
While inspiring
Through originality
The reader
To continue
Until the end
Where resolution
Can abide
In literary reflection.
Order In Court
In the open wild
World of politics
There is only one order
That can enforce truth:
The order in court.
The rule of law,
Is the final remedy
For venal denial,
For inveterate lies,
For outright ignoring
Of the Constitution.
The trajectory of justice
Bends like a King oratory
In the open wild
World of politics
There is only one order
That can enforce truth:
The order in court.
The rule of law,
Is the final remedy
For venal denial,
For inveterate lies,
For outright ignoring
Of the Constitution.
The trajectory of justice
Bends like a King oratory
October 29, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Order In Court
In the open wild
World of politics
There is only one order
That can enforce truth:
The order in court.
The rule of law,
Is the final remedy
For venal denial,
For inveterate lies,
For outright ignoring
Of the Constitution.
The trajectory of justice
Bends like a King oratory
In the open wild
World of politics
There is only one order
That can enforce truth:
The order in court.
The rule of law,
Is the final remedy
For venal denial,
For inveterate lies,
For outright ignoring
Of the Constitution.
The trajectory of justice
Bends like a King oratory