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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Getting Past the Past

...slowly, deliberately, with intention

Nothing frightens me more
than the way we live unconsciously,
lost in the shadows of history,
recklessly hurtling through time.

A long life requires special forms
of remembering and forgetting.
But we’ve mixed them all up.

Memory is not about restoring
some individual, romanticized past,
or holding on to our grudges,
but rather about careful storytelling
to advance life’s narrative.

And forgetting is not about becoming
numb to the ways we all suffer
or denying our burdensome past,
but the very conscious letting go
to allow space for new life.

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