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Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem "At the Exhibitions of the Vacant Frames"

something for a Late Night Poets poetry challenge.

A bit of a concept going on. I hope you find it interesting.

ALT text in image

+ poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1874485...

#poetry #poets #writing #art #perspectives #viewpoints #reality

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
At the Exhibitions of the Vacant Frames

THE POEM:
Huge spaces where no painting finds your eyes,
but we'd meet frames [ gigantic plastic frames ]
of varied angles, different thicknesses,
each one revealing and surrounding things
and people wandering or looking through,
perhaps observing someone waving back
and frowning or laughing unexpectedly.

We weren't masterpieces then, more like
the bleary wearied painters being watched.
You couldn't really call it portraiture,
since no one sat too long or stood to be
immortalized as gimmick art that day.
We'd search for doorways, any EXIT sign
that let us return to our realer worlds.

Outside, bold OPEN signs [ behind dense panes
reflecting failing lights ] met tired minds
oblivious to nightly ironies
through city shopping blocks of mockery,
where winning windows draw you into wares
and let you stare and catch your mirrored face
as thoughts get lost in costly spectacles.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

November 4, 2025 at 3:58 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

1/2

My poem "Popped Art"

submitted to an "art and authority" poetry challenge.

It was inspired by the Pop Art movement and Warhol's soup can paintings, which some critics saw as challenging classical or elitist definitions of art.

ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1874065...

#poetry #art

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Popped Art

THE POEM:

SOUP CANS
SOUP CANS
SOUP CANS TALL

against condensed

museum walls
consuming rooms
with names framed

by Authorities

who stewed if You
of Spoons & Bowls
sipped ordinary

food for thought.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

November 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

"Petitioning My Syllables"

a poem I wrote for an Emily Dickinson ("If I can stop one heart from breaking, / I shall not live in vain") inspiration poetry challenge.

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+ poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1872924...

#poetry #poems #hope #inspirational #healing #writing #helping #caring

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Petitioning My Syllables

THE POEM:
Dear Words,

please be gentle welcome hands
prepared to bear a searching soul
across another spreading rift
between these grounds divided by
the striking lies we lean upon
to feel complete and masterful.

If you would do this—lend relief,
some real feeling empathy
to someone trembling at the ledge
of what could be a canyon soon—
then lead them back to love's one land—
you'd prove there is no vanity
in all the life I'll sacrifice
to write, believing truth should heal
what cruelty breaks and silence takes
from what deceptions left for dead.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 28, 2025 at 4:41 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

A somewhat eerie #poem of mine for the season...

"The Undead Lessons of the Dead"

ALT text in image

+ poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1872260...

#poetry #poems #Halloween #ghosts #dead #death #horror #scary #haunted #teachers #history #past #education #lessons #learning #students #progress

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
The Undead Lessons of the Dead

THE POEM:
Too few of us were willing to attend
the conferences of the dead,
their tired diatribes of dire dates
and long-forsaken names
for places we'll no longer place
where we're forgetting them.

Now, is it really any wonder
they've been taunting us
and haunting us with deathless histories
of what remains at stake,
to be awakened,
or necessary to be freed?

Their rattling caveats and dying tidings
cry out for one lone listener tonight,
but who among us honestly wants
to know those droning ghosted hopes
and disembodied admonitions
howling at these monstrous hours?

The skeleton sermons, Reaper speeches,
cadaverous committees and counselors:
they're repeatedly reminding us of what
we failed to refine, rewind, or repair,
along with what must heal, be restored in time,
or relegated, at last, to the blasted past.

It's perilous, disregarding them. Against
our momentary impulses, receive their pleas.
They'll never "rest in peace" until there's peace.
Let's hear them, think to grieve with them,
believe they're not quite done instructing us,
lest tomorrow gets possessed by every yesteryear.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 26, 2025 at 2:28 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My #cat #poem for #vssdaily
#tail theme

I hope cat lovers, fans of 3i/ATLAS, and everyone else finds this interesting or funny or both 😸☄️✨

ALT text

+poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1871437...

#poetry #poems #cats #catlovers #comets #space #astronomy #animals #pets #caturday

@vssdaily.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Come, Cat Comet

THE POEM:
The flaming feline that's the comet
darts at worlds as if they're mice.

She claws the darkness like a couch,
nuzzling, kneading padded space

before she wraps her fluffy tail
around the sun (her ball of yarn).

What will she do next? Pounce or climb?
Or yawn, curl up, take one last nap?

I've asked my Earth cat, who beholds
the moon with such a fervent purr.

I know she knows but won’t meow.
All cats, like stars, keep secrets close.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 19, 2025 at 2:43 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem "The Bottom Lines"

about Nick Bottom and Titania.

I submitted it to A Midsummer Night's Dream poetry challenge.

I hope #Shakespeare lovers and others enjoy it!

ALT text

+ link with an earlier draft: allpoetry.com/poem/1870857...

#poetry #poems #fantasy #romance #literature #roleplaying

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
The Bottom Lines

THE POEM:
How well you play Titania, my queen,
and I'm Nick Bottom, weaver, looped buffoon,
bamboozled wooer with the burro's head,
no prankster Puck or sullen Oberon:
I'll twist in stitches of myself, transfixed
by looming loves, affection's threaded spells,
because midsummer twines our finespun nights
with patchwork dreams and sackcloth comedies.
At worst—at dawn—we'll wake up to ourselves.
At best, our passion's supernatural!

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 17, 2025 at 1:21 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

"In Wakes of Breaking Memories"

a poem I wrote for a William Stafford themed poetry challenge.

If you read this, thank you. I hope you find it enjoyable.

ALT text in image

+ poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1870459...

#poetry #poems #poetrycommunity #readingcommunity #boats #sailing #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
In Wakes of Breaking Memories

THE POEM:

Fall foliage restocks my yard.
Three speedboats rev by as I bag
more maple leaves, reflect on love,
postpone the door to be restored,
deny I have insomnia.

The lone canoer's paddling back.
At least the sun gets rest tonight,
but not before it throws some gold
at waters which won't hold it long.
The treasure's in remembering.

I've been the master of my craft,
chased places, daydreams, distances,
ridiculous discoveries,
blindfolded aims, the queasy peace
of fading wakes, and journeys' ends.

I've questioned when forgetting's best,
if newness never dissipates,
then everywhere feels unexplored
so skippers fish or swim without
an ounce of sinking memories.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 15, 2025 at 3:27 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

Speaking of #butterflies
in 2015 I created this using Blender

Dreaming: Chuang Tzu, or the Butterfly
www.artstation.com/artwork/DZl50

ALT text in the image.

Re: Chuang Tzu
iep.utm.edu/zhuangzi-chu...

& his dream
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangz...

#art #blender #butterfly #philosophy #philosophers

This is a pastel image filled with soft hues of simplistically illustrated butterflies encircling Chuang Tzu, a philosopher, whose eyes are closed as he dreams of butterflies and/or contemplates whether or not he is a butterfly dreaming of being a person. The butterflies are large and small, and, they come together and overlap to establish the image of Chuang Tzu: two butterflies stand for his eyes, and the rest help to form his hair and long beard. It is a peaceful image.

October 13, 2025 at 11:45 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem As Butterflies Advise

I submitted this to a 25-word poetry challenge about butterflies.

I hope the poem--and the butterflies--speak to you.

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+poem link allpoetry.com/poem/1868929...

#poetry #poems #butterflies #inspirational #butterfly #advice #readingcommunity #nature

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
As Butterflies Advise

THE POEM:
"Outdistance limits,
friends!"

"Ascend!"

"Imagine stairs
through open air!"

"Surrender endless
plummeting!"

"Envision
hidden pinnacles!"

"Know nothing's
insignificant!"

"Let meekness
teach magnificence!"

"Embrace your metamorphosis!"

THE END OF THE POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 13, 2025 at 11:21 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem "To a Tired Thespian"

on contemplating the drama and more
within the theater of another mind.

I hope you find it interesting.

ALT text in image
+ poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1868837...

#poetry #poems #poetrycommunity #drama #stage #acting #plays #psychology #illusions #fantasy #reality

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
To a Tired Thespian

THE POEM:

Leaning over the mezzanine
inside your classically theatrical mind,
I'm watching threadbare curtains merge and part
as notions saunter out of dimmer wings
toward hotter wattage lights.

Against impressively elaborate backdrops
rolled hastily onto the stage (by clumsy hands
preferring mostly to remain unknown),
I'm following your central character,
your "thief of scenes" now robbed of time.

Another costume propped with pomp?
Do you hope to distract us from
the lifeless lines? The marks you miss?
What happened to that masterful delivery?
Your authentic career of inauthenticity?

Your audience is mostly memories,
but did they sigh or cry tonight?
You used to love to make them love you, love.
But was that love? We need to feel the realer.
Break the fourth wall! Let's be done with plays.

THE END OF THE POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 6, 2025 at 1:35 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

1/2

My poem in praise of Jane Goodall.

I started it long ago and was moved to finish it when I heard she passed away.

I hope this honors her amazing life.

Please feel free to share.💙

ALT text
+link allpoetry.com/poem/1868244...

#poetry #nature #janegoodall #ecology
#earth #conservation

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
For Jane Goodall (1934-2025)

THE POEM:

To you, they weren't subjects to be numbered,
tagged and logged, footnoted, left behind;
you gave them names, acknowledged characters,
allowed for souls to glow behind those eyes
so you could witness stories deeper than
their primal traits (what we dismissed as "wildlife").

First chimpanzees, then more like family,
they'd screech and scatter until trust could come
of calm encounters, tenderness, good company,
and then the unexpected empathy
beginning with the humble gift of hands
which gestured friendship, mercy, warmth, regard.

With instincts science cannot prime alone,
and love above control's conditioning,
you recognized the tools and bonds they forged
—the leaders, rivals, mothers—and their roles,
emotions, language, warfare, rituals
(things we claimed as purely human truths).

You saw more than these similarities:
you championed the grand connectedness,
showed nature's here, through shoots and roots of Earth
—and us—to be observed, conserved, deserved.
Benevolence becomes your legacy.
May we inherit your humanity.

THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 3, 2025 at 4:53 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

4/4

Part four of my poem "The Problem Plays"

ALT text in image

+ poem text link:
allpoetry.com/poem/1867694...

#poetry #poems #plays #drama #metaphors

The Problem Plays
___________________________________________________________

THE EPILOGUE OF EPILOGUES

Who lives to give this epilogue?
Which group? Which individual?
Antagonists? Protagonist?
Who are you? What they've made of you?
Has post-dramatic irony
revealed we were players played?
Does darkness presage prophecy?
Were morals grounded, found, or drowned
in frowns and clowning spectacles?
Who now attends our epilogue?
The splintering of discontent?
Is that a dagger? Horse? A rose?
Perhaps old lines might lie to us.
Where shadows seem suspended, is
a vision mending ends undone?
Perhaps our play was not the thing?
Shall clapping shatter magic's spell
and free grief from dead theaters?
I ask not for an age, but time.
Though arrows narrow mystery,
we wake for one more chance to dream.
This is the prologue: history.
"To be" is never questioned here.
_____________________________________________________
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

3/4

Part three of my poem "The Problem Plays"

ALT text in image

+ poem text link:
allpoetry.com/poem/1867694...

#poetry #poems #plays #drama #metaphors

The Problem Plays
___________________________________________________________

ACT THREE

Enter SOMEONE, EVERYONE,
or NOBODY if this is IT.

Performer, Chorus, Audience,
this is the drama actions wrote,
a prequel to tomorrow's farce,
the sum of rushed soliloquies
hot commentary, pause, applause,
rehearsals, choreography,
lost costumes, histrionics, masks,
directions, backdrops, dialogues,
cold cause of flaws, of fates reversed,
of curtains, spotlights, orchestras,
props setting settings in a mind
extending credibility
to situations, twisted plots,
a timely entrance, exits left,
each tragedy and comedy
adapting actualities
with manners, errors, the absurd
to magnify humanity
or lampoon inhumanities.

_____________________________________________________
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

2/4

Part two of my poem "The Problem Plays"

"Problem Play" was the theme.

What's a problem play?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem...

The poem's title also plays on the phrase Problem Play (play as a verb).

ALT text
+ poem link:
allpoetry.com/poem/1867694...

#poetry #poems #plays #drama #metaphors

The Problem Plays
___________________________________________________________

ACT TWO

Enter, INDIVIDUAL,
in the NEXT UNSETTLING.

In this act, you are brought between
the culmination of your youth
and anything achievable
until you meet Society,
greet groups and others clustering,
and they weigh on your works with words
of repetitious pressuring,
arranged persuasions of the day,
then aim to make you one of them
and banish dazzling character
or castigate the outlier
who moves outside designing eyes
to see beyond predestiny
and modes of mediocrity.

_____________________________________________________
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

1/4

Part one of my poem "The Problem Plays"

I entered it a Late Night Poets contest.

The poem's arranged in 3 acts + an epilogue.

Some plays on Shakespearean references are included.

Hope you enjoy it.

ALT text
+ poem link allpoetry.com/poem/1867694...

#poetry #poems #plays #drama #metaphors

The Problem Plays
___________________________________________________________

ACT ONE

Enter, INDIVIDUAL,
from WHAT COULD BE
to PRESENTLY.

In the first act, you are born,
and there’s brief bursting of applause
when your forehead and arms appear,
and then the dubbing of a name
decided many months ago,
when you, your brain, were gaining shape
shown floating in an oval womb,
your microcosm, all you knew,
gestating most expectedly,
until you left the Nebulous
and found yourself beneath staged lights
inside this theater of life.

_____________________________________________________
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

October 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

Personally and professionally, I tried to promote poetry in various ways over the years.

Here's a one-page handout I made in 2017 for my library:

"Why Like Poetry?"

PDF link: thrall.org/docs/WhyLike...

It's about why you might like to read or write poetry.

#poetry #writing #library #libraries

Middletown Thrall Library invites you to wonder… .

Why Like Poetry?

There are many reasons to enjoy reading or writing poetry! Here are a few:

Poems can…
…be unlike anything you ever read!
…tell really interesting stories!
…be fun to read aloud!
…often be read in just minutes.
…be silly or serious or strange.
…have rhythms and be musical!
…be free from all rules of writing.
…help you discover possibilities.
…be a nice challenge to memorize!
…teach you new words.
…let you express yourself.
…challenge you to think differently.
…help you to listen more carefully.
…show you the beauty of words.
…mean different things to anyone.
…show you the power of words!
…remind you words really matter!
…help you appreciate things more.
…help you use words in new ways!
…help you see how things relate.
…make you think more deeply.
…take you to new places!
…inspire you to imagine and invent.
…inspire you to be more creative!
…show you things not seen at first.
…give you fresh perspectives.
…help you to share your feelings.
…help you to understand others.
…teach you things about the world!
…help you to learn about yourself!

September 26, 2025 at 2:09 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My visual / typographical #poem (vispo)

"Bug Zapper Fascinations"

submitted for #vssdaily #moth

Thanks for reading this.

Fully descriptive ALT text is included in the image.

#poetry #poems #moths #bugs #vispo #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
BUG ZAPPER FASCINATIONS

ABOUT THE POEM:
THIS IS A VISUAL POEM THAT USES TYPOGRAPHY TO PORTRAY MOTHS CIRCLING A BUG ZAPPER.

AT THE TOP OF THE POEM THERE IS A LIGHT WITH THE WORDS "DISTRACTING AND ELECTRIFYING ARTIFICIAL LIGHT"

THAT LIGHT IS SURROUNDED BY MOTHS, WHICH ARE PORTRAYED IN GROUPS OF LETTERS THAT, WHEN PUT TOGETHER, SPELL "MOTHS"

EACH GROUP OF LETTERS DEPICTING THE MOTHS CONTAINS FIVE LETTERS: 5 LETTER M'S TO THE LEFT, 5 LETTER O'S TO THE RIGHT, AND FURTHER DOWN, 5 LETTER T'S, 5 LETTER H'S, AND THEN A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN, BENEATH THE LIGHT, FIVE LETTER S'S.

THERE IS A BOLD DIVIDING LINE ACROSS THE BOTTOM PART OF THE IMAGE. THIS REPRESENTS THE WORLD.

BENEATH THAT BOLD LINE ARE THESE LINES OF POETRY:

THE ACTUAL ESSENTIAL WORLD
LOST MOTHS SO FREE LEAVE BEHIND
WHEN SOARING TOWARD MORE BRILLIANT TRAPS.

THE POEM ENDS THERE.

POEM © COPYRIGHT ROBERT J. TIESS, 2025

September 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem "To a Diner Fly"

because I think flies are fascinating beings 😎

I hope you enjoy this poem.

I entered it in a Ted Kooser ("Spider") poetry challenge.

🥗 💙 🪰 🍨 🍰

ALT text in image

+ poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1865948...

#poetry #poems #insects #diners #restaurants #food #utopia

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
To a Diner Fly

THE POEM:
You're circling. I'm sipping oolong tea.
Repeatedly you buzz my salad plate.
Yet you remember me. You know we're friends.

I'll gently wave a hand to shoo you on,
and you'll retreat to pastry havens, dance
on muffins, cupcakes, cookies, donuts, tarts.

You're pacing frosted doors, surveying panes,
deliberating what you've swapped for this
inhibiting utopia of sweets.

When candid with myself, I might admit
there's piddling difference between our trades
of unobstructed worlds for honeyed loves.

I'm distancing my dish so you can try
my croutons, beets, but how could they compete
with unattended sundaes? Go. Enjoy!

END OF POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My #poem "To the Ones Yet to Bud"

something I submitted to a flower theme poetry contest

Hope you enjoy it 🪷

ALT text in image

+ poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1865773...

#poetry #flowers #lotus #awakening #enlightenment #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
To the Ones Yet to Bud

THE POEM:
You've noticed flowers,
bouquets, wreaths,

but have you longed
for lotus light?

Struggled much
from muddiness?

Floated knowing
growth holds hope?

What's flourishing?
Awakening?

Becoming more
than sufferance?

Your petal eyelids:
could they bloom?

Do you presume
to live again?

THE END OF THE POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 21, 2025 at 12:50 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My #poem "Galatean"

for the #VssMagicPrompt #still theme

ALT text
+ link: allpoetry.com/poem/1864636...

Poem inspired by Ovid's #myth of Pygmalion, who prays to Aphrodite to bring his Galatea sculpture to life:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatea...

#poetry #mythology #love #art
@vssmagic.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Galatean

THE POEM:
Through human love,
authentic love,
devotion's prayer
to love of Love,
cold sculpture thaws,
creation is:

what’s alabaster
softens, reddens,
quitting stillness
for this kiss
exhibiting
life's finest art.

END OF POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 14, 2025 at 5:34 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My #poem on history being conscious and tired with us not learning from it...

"The Past as Having Had It with Us"

ALT text

+ link: allpoetry.com/poem/1864534...

(Tagging this also with #VSS365 #exhaustion since it fits the theme.)

#poetry #poetrylovers #history #education
@vss365hq.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
The Past as Having Had It with Us

THE POEM:

Imagine History
incensed, fatigued, aloof
to grueling newsrooms full
of human lunacies.

Imagine History is done
with negligence, redundancy,
so thoroughly exhausted from
repeating things it means to teach.

Imagine History retiring
to let us stew and brood on here and now
until we burn enough to learn by heart
one pressing lesson lectured by the past.

Imagine History releasing us from time
then trusting us to understand what runs ahead
depends on memories of where we never thought
remorsefully along a wrongful course toward war.

Imagine History exceeding what we lost or cost.
Imagine History reviving dreams of real peace.
Imagine History as everlasting consciousness
because it was because it is because it will be cause.

END OF POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

Canandaiguan Ataraxia

My #vss365 #power #poem

Inspired by a visit my wife and I made to Canandaigua Lake.

We sat at a marina and watched powerboats, kayaks, seagulls, and clouds drift by as we soaked up the serenity.

Poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1863864...

#poetry #peace @vss365hq.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Canandaiguan Ataraxia

THE POEM:
Marina seagulls
squeak and leap

now powerboats
plow through the calm

and mirrored cirrus
fizz in wakes.

But nearly nothing
busts the hush:

soon ripples sleep,
seagulls subside.

Blue peace kayaks
back through thoughts.
[

END OF THE POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 10, 2025 at 4:10 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

My poem "Apotheosist"

something I submitted to a Sylvia Plath theme poetry challenge.

ALT text in image

+ poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1863680...

#poetry #plath #sylviaplath #poets #poetrylovers
#inspiration #inspirational #healing #renaissance
#resurrection #apotheosis

THE TITLE OF THE POEM
Apotheosist

THE POEM:
You're almost sure I'm rummaging the muddiness
for purer evidence our wasteland may be saved,
but it's discovery past recovery:

my archaeology overstepping ruins,
excavating what withstood catastrophe
and stood purged of impermanence.

Here's my Parthenon, Academy,
my Colosseum (where I've dueled myself),
my new Olympus, floating over lowly smoke.

END OF POEM

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

September 9, 2025 at 3:33 AM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

I meant to add this image to my "Way of Doors" #vss365 #Dooryway post...

It's something I made in 2006 in Blender, and it's called "The Entrance or the Exit" ⬅️➡️

THE ENTRANCE OR THE EXIT. This image features a doorless doorway made of stone. Inside, it's dark, but outside it's bright, full of sunlight, and there's a tall tree full of leaves outdoors with a blue sky behind it.

September 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM

Robert J. Tiess

@robertjtiess.bsky.social

In my third book, Gracious Nature, I include one essay:

"On the Vitality of Nature Poems"

While it's a brief essay, it invites readers to consider the personal profundities and vaster aspects of "nature poetry."

Excerpt + book link:

www.amazon.com/Gracious-Nat...

#poetry #nature #poets #essays

EXCERPT:

ESSAY: ON THE VITALITY OF NATURE POEMS

I BELIEVE IN THE VITALITY, RELEVANCE, AND SIGNIFICANCE OF NATURE POETRY. IT'S WHY I'VE DEVOTED SO MANY EFFORTS TO EXPLORING AND EXPRESSING EARTHLY AND ENVIRONMENTAL THEMESE SINCE I ASPIRED TO BE A POET DECADES AGO. FOR ME, WRITING ABOUT NATURE IS NOT ONLY A DELIGHTFUL AND INTRIGUING PURSUIT; IT'S AN ENTIRELY ESSENTIAL AND BENEFICIAL ENDEAVOR DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY A HUMAN NEED TO CONNECT, TO CONTEPLATE, AND A NATURAL INCLINATION TO CELEBRATE AND PRESERVE THE WORLD FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

I FIND I MUST OBSERVE NATURE, MUST REGARD CREATION WITH HUMILITY, REVERENCE, AND PATIENCE, AND I SHOULD MEDITATE UPON IT AT LENGTH, TRYING MY PERSONAL BEST TO COMPREHEND SOME PART OF IT BEFORE I DISCUSS IT OR SHARE ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT IT...

END OF EXCERPT

FROM GRACIOUS NATURE, COPYRIGHT ROBERT J. TIESS

September 7, 2025 at 6:02 AM

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