Posts by: Robert Ford

This is a poem that I wrote a couple of months ago, as I prepared to relocate to Saint Petersburg. I’m sharing it now, with the blessing of the person that I wrote it for, and as my way of celebrating International Friendship Day, which is tomorrow (July 30th). The genesis of this poem comes from a fundraising idea I had for a non-profit, where I serve on the Board. Great Dames was co-founded in 2009 by my good friend Sharon Kelly Hake, and her daughter Heather Cassey. I’ve been involved from day one, and it is an organization that…

Since I started to think about relocating to Florida last fall, I haven’t really been writing much poetry. Getting my house ready to put on the market, and working to simplify my life and skinny down my worldly belongings took a lot more bandwidth than I anticipated. It’s only now that I realize just how much I was sheltered through multiple corporate relocations. I’ve been in Florida for four weeks now, and last weekend, I was finally reunited with my belongings (my tale of scammy moving companies holding my stuff hostage will have to wait for another day), and Saint…

It’s funny sometimes, the memories that our minds decide to dredge up. Sometimes, there is a clear link between what you’ve just been thinking about, a memory that you’ve been searching for, and what then pops into your head. At other times, there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why your mind has decided to hit replay on a particular event or time in your life. This poem is based on one of those memories that bubbled up from nowhere, surprising me with the level of contextual information that bubbled up with it. Looking back, I can…

I was remembering and sharing things from my past the other day, and it struck me that how we interpret the actions of others, becomes part of our narrative going forwards. Stories that were assembled, based on our experiences and perspectives as young adults, might look very different today, if we were to revisit those source materials, bringing with us a lifetime of lessons learned, and hard-earned wisdom and insights. As I thought some more, it made me think of how just by tapping or gently twisting a child’s kaleidoscope, you’re rewarded with an entirely different image. Later, I thought…

This morning, after waking up unreasonably early, I decided to work on my upcoming book of poetry. I’m at that fortunate and simultaneously frustrating stage, where I have too much material, and in addition to deciding what to leave out, I’m also struggling with how to organize and sequence things. Anyway, as a lifetime procrastinator, I turned to one of my tried and tested ways of wasting time, by reading my FB feed. On there, I was taken by an Internet meme that has been shared by my daughter-in-law, which purports to be an obituary written by an AI program….

no more talkof what wasor what wasn’tno could have beenor should have beenlooking forwardthe pastis left behind the ‘we’that we weretogetheris a history lessonof miscommunicationsmisunderstandingsand missed opportunitieswe’ve learned from itno needor timeto relive it todaystronger and wisermore resilientmore understandingmore acceptingwe knowourselveswe loveourselves I celebrate youfinding lovemy search continuespain and gaina bar has been setand youa tough act to follow hopefulthoughtfuland thankfulpatientcompetentand resilient embracing lifetaking warmthfrom the sunreachingfor the starsdancingto my own rhythmnlove is in my heart

Whenever I post a poem, I always face the dilemma of whether to share its provenance, or to let readers jump to their own conclusions. After some deliberation, I’ve decided with the latter approach for this one. The idea for this one, came as I watched the sun rise over Crescent Park, in St. Petersburg. I was still wearing a smile on my face, as I could still hear the middle-aged African-American woman still singing gospel songs, as she jogged around the lake. She was now at some distance, but her voice carried over the water, and her joy was…