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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Freedom

It’s always a matter of releasing.

Those moments
when I am overwhelmed
by all my trying,
all my reaching,
all my doing,
come a little less often
now that I concede
most of what my heart needs
cannot be purchased,
and everything I’ve become
is shaping me into a bridge
from one lifetime
to the next.

Whether I drink wine or water
it does not matter.
Once I can let go,
I easily get drunk and drown
in that ocean of non-existence
seductively welcoming me
to the beach of my dreams.

Sometimes I cannot breathe
while coughing up the phlegm
of my wild expectations.
Other times I swim beneath the waves,
then rocket into the air
celebrating the freedom
to become who I really am.

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