Scott Edward Anderson's Poetry Blog

Here is my poem for Day 24:

Doubt is a privilege
Of the faithful,
I always say.
I have doubts
About almost everything
–except you.
You are the one
Person to whom
I could give my whole
Heart and never want
It back. Or, rather,
Always know where
To find it.

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 23:

We never met a reality
We couldn’t lick.
We’ve turned dreams
Into reality, turned
Reality inside-out,
And found poetry
In places both usual
And extraordinary.

Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 22, Earth Day:

Monday morning
After a glorious
weekend in Brooklyn.
The magnolia waves,
Birds sing, greet the day,
And the bed sways
With our embrace.
Time to celebrate
Our Mother Earth.

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 21:

I want you to feel the way you do
When you’re with me, even when
We’re apart: beautiful, whole, sexy,
Smart, grounded — a rock star.
You should always feel that way,
Because it is who you are
Not just how I see you.
“Bind me as a seal upon your heart,
A sign upon your arm…” writes Solomon.
That seal and sign,
Should not be a “brand,”
But a celebration of you,
Your beauty, your wholeness,
And how full of love you are.

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 20:

Nightmares end.

Last night’s surreal

Scenes stopped abruptly

Segued into pages

From “The Song of Songs,”

And my love sleeping

In my arms again.

Morning comes with the hush

Of a spring rain, a chill breeze,

And robins and starlings

Vying for attention.

I pull my love closer.

Her head on my chest,

Her dreams in my heart.

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 19.

I wrote it in the midst of all the chaos and reports coming from Boston, trying to keep up my spirits and the challenge made to myself for National Poetry Month. And to prove terror can’t trump poetry.

I have no words.

I just stare, listening

To the news and don’t

Even know how to ask

Why?

Where is the poetry

In words like manhunt,

Lockdown, shelter-in-place order?

Where is the poetry

In controlled explosion,

on-going situation

person-of-interest?

Where is the poetry

In a world where terror

Takes hold and bites?

It’s in the eyes of my love

And our hands clasped,

Finally reunited and safe

Together, after too long apart

Here is my poem for Day 17:

It is tough to be strong

In the face of another

Senseless act of violence,

The lives and limbs lost

To someone with evil

In their hearts–

Whether jihadist or jerk-off.

Yet we must, we have to be

In order for decency and love

To triumph.

We think our love

Is only between two people,

But in fact it’s a beacon

For humanity that shines,

“Love conquers all things…”

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 16:

I never met your father,

But I feel his presence

In your life, on this day

Every year since we met

At Poets House, the tenth

Anniversary of his passing.

We sat by the river,

Two good friends watching

Our kids chase each other

In the playground.

Moments of silence,

Never awkward;

A few laughs.

I don’t know what you

Were thinking then,

Except I know it meant

A lot that I wanted to be

With you on that day,

To help you through it

With poetry and laughter,

The distraction of kids

Playing and eating lunch.

A man who cared

And understood what

This day means to you.

Who cared enough

To seize the day

And pay attention

To the meaning

Of your heart.

–Scott Edward Anderson

Here is my poem for Day 15:

We are better together.

But you knew that,

Didn’t you?

Why do the miles

Seem so much longer,

The days much darker,

When we’re apart?

Nights, too, especially

The nights–interminable.

Turning both of us, strong,

Independent in so many ways,

Into lost souls who just want

To get back to our source.

Silly, really; it was just four days.

But it seemed ceaseless

And without end, until

I held you in my arms again.

Like an addict, I need

–no I crave–your touch,

your voice, the way

Your eyes connect with mine.

I need your physical presence

Next to me, around me,

Even if just out of reach

Across the apartment,

Like I’ve never needed anyone.

Absurd, I know, but if I’ve

“Got to have one vice,” as

My grandmother used to say,

I’m glad it is you. So very glad it’s you.

–Scott Edward Anderson