Brian’sPoems

The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller

A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.

Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.

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Easy Answers

“Only God knows what the preacher’s preaching.”*

I’ve come within inches
of a treasure called enlightenment.
Or so I thought.

Oh, the vanity
of my easy adolescence!
I can remember when
success meant following
those footsteps in cement,
and then piling accolade
on top of achievement
until ambiguous words
like happiness and contentment
became vague and empty concepts,
with my precise understanding
a foregone conclusion.

Where do the easy answers go
when you consent to live
like a fish in water,
like a bird in the air,
like an animal in the mud?

Life is full of surprises,
and I seem to have stumbled into
something much bigger than me.
Not even God knows
what comes next.

*From the lyrics of Only God Knows by Young Fathers.

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