Ryan Oelke

an exposed wound not meant to heal... a reminder, a companion.... ....a calling from the friction of duality because bliss would be too simple.... I have chosen this: to embrace the pain of distant memories lost in my body, to be unearthed by the winds of emotions...

Recently I wrote a poem for musical composer and friend, Brad Fowler, entitled, "Mirror Anima". The piece premiered at the Missouri Music Educators Association annual conference, performed by the Kearney High School Bel Canto Choir, and directed by Jason Elam. Below...

I am a felt sense of life, an attempt of articulation with a cursed tongue and no end in sight. Tethered to wonder and fright a delusion of divinity I seek nothingness and shadows of light. Survival is a given so I must ask another question: What is the difference...

my fears, incense compressed through countless moments of forgotten vulnerability, burn in the roaring fire of our hearts, the smoke, a reminder of my fortitude, the beautiful scent, a celebration of Love melting into you, with you, we enter a presence that needs...

Light releases its purpose to play and dance on your skin, a newborn doe finding its legs in the snow, jumping, leaping in that moment when fantasy kisses reality... Life clings to your hair giddily, swirling ecstatically, pretending, for once, that no one is looking,...

I'm hanging myself and every time I talk to God the rope gets a little tighter burning only when I resist... jumping up and down on this chair, waiting for it to crack, we share a good laugh, at just how wobbly it all is. If done right, I'll bleed out from my heart...

The death of love is a distended heart, an aching sunrise stretched over time, and a sky in mind with no earth to touch. Another death, an implied beginning...