“When you are everything to everyone, you are nothing to no one.”

A quote from a friend in advertising.

I don’t like it when writers, entertainers and companies thrust their views out into the public space. For me, it is very disappointing. I want to read your story, see your movie, watch your fight, your golf game, buy your product (or not!), and see each of these things for what they are, not in light of what you, “Believe.”

Is this a contradiction to the opening quote?

Am I seeking to be an everything man?

My poems came to me, and, I sought to be as faithful in executing them as I could. I am very hesitant to say what some of the characters represent, or, even, who they are to me, for, I could, but, in the telling, does it take away something from the reader?

Does my “Telling”, of what the poem, or, the story, means to me, unduly shape the readers experience?

I am loathe to do it.

How much more so, then, for me to burden the reader with my own viewpoints on things having nothing at all to do with my writings?

I feel, that there are secrets in my writings, BUT! these are not necessarily my secrets, and, I am not putting some esoteric spin on my own words, rather, the reader imbues the words with a life I cannot give them.

That is the best case scenario.

If the words are, “Good”, if they were executed well, then it is the reader who breathes life into them. It is within the readers mind they gain imagery and, motion, and, I cannot see what they become. These are some of those “Secrets”. What do they mean to you?

The more I try to force a meaning into them, the more they become some sort of propaganda. I already feel that, focusing so much on how Raven experiences the world may venture into this realm, But, it is a very big part of the story, and, I worry about this with some of my poems as well, but, again, a lot of this simply,

Comes to me,

and,

I write it down and follow the flow, and then, later, seek to make it understandable to those outside of myself.

Does this mean that I feel that writers, actors, sports figures, etc, give up their right to stand on a soapbox and preach to us all?

Pretty much.

I’d love to see some of these figures retire, take a break, remove their works from the public domain, and THEN, chose to become “Preachers”.

As a consumer, it feels exploitive when a “Star”, uses their star power to “Sell us” something, especially when you later find out they did it because they were pressured, or, because they were seeking to ingratiate themselves, or, because they wanted to be part of the “In crowd”, to, sell more books, more tickets, more trinkets, and, to keep the wolves at bay and not be “Canceled”, etc.

So, how does this affect “Honesty”, and, taking a stance?

Do I write Christian poetry, Christian stories?

Do I imbue my words with political themes?

I have a faith, and, I think some of it shows through in what I write, but… I doubt anyone could pin down exactly what that faith is, and, politics is all flavor of the month. The politics of the day will not stand the test of time.

Even faith migrates, changes.

One of the great benefits of being an unknown is that you have so little to lose, and, at the same time, this gives an excuse to be brutally honest. To not bend, to not submit, to fear, to allow one’s writings to be as true as possible, without the need to be overly concerned with what will offend others.

I go back to my poem, “The Bike”. There is fear there for me, on many levels, but, if there is a fear, there is likely a truth, and, if truth resides then, it will touch another’s heart. It will strike a chord. It will cease being about “Me”, and, become about…

You.