All I Have To Leave Behind Are Words

Frank, Raw, and Relatable Rhymes,
Depictions of Life’s Circumstance
In the Raw Artless Tenor of Our Times

I’m a 60s-era poet with an abiding regard for embracing diversity and inclusion, the import of the phrase “you do you”, the precepts “Do No Harm” and “Leave No Trace”, and for the premise “I’m Ok, You’re Ok”.

I believe that enlightenment is best achieved when we engage and explore alternative points of view, that we should form opinions and convictions empirically, and that we should tender our perspectives without apology. They are merely what we believe to be true at a given point in time and subject to change. That’s simply how it should work as we evolve.

Poems are profoundly personal expressions, as are all forms of art, and ask only to be perceived without bias or critique. I have no illusions about my significance or the impact of my work. Nor do I apologize for its tenor, nor fret over how others might judge it, or me for it. To do otherwise would inhibit free expression, and a reticent self-conscious poet is doomed to an uncreative melancholy.

Naively, I hope my writing brings just an iota of awareness to the innocent, an ounce of enlightenment to the ignorant, and a small measure of conscience to the culpable.

Ridge