While I draw inspiration from my life experiences, these poems are not meant to be read as a narration of facts, nor are they meant to be read as being about any one specific person, living or dead. Sometimes there is a dedication to a group or an individual who has inspired me to write a given poem. Many times I combine elements of fiction and fantasy with reality. I find meaning in creating beauty from the chaos of life, of adding order to what can sometimes feel random or arbitrary.

nothing has changed

Lake Ersek March 28, 2022

I want to write to you

but nothing has changed;

and so how can I say that I miss you?

I want you in my life again,

because you are one of the pieces of the puzzle

that makes me feel like my struggles

make sense.

And yet there you are, so far away —

but I’m not ready to accept mediocrity.

There are things

that I want to overcome

but I don’t know if I can.

I don’t believe in playing football,

and gray is my favorite color.

I hate the way some things are.

I just feel like I was in the very middle of

getting to know you.

If you like football,

I guess that’s okay,

since I’m learning to be a listener,

not a preacher.

Nothing Has Changed was originally written in 2017, and completed in 2022. It was performed live at the Maine TransNet Talent Takeover on March 26, 2022 in Portland, ME; also known Machigonne; on the ancestral lands of the Abenaki and other Indigenous Tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy.