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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I Grow Easier

All the bloated faces
and the tired eyes
are telling me something
painfully unmistakable:
as I grow older,
life gets harder.

The busted up lies of my youth
seem more and more like trickery,
even though I now know
they were the necessary scaffolding
for the tower I was building,
that today sits in a heap of ashes.

I didn’t realize my life was hard
until I woke in the middle of it.
The cruelty of my maturation
came first like fire,
and at long-last like water,
to a man grown tired of syrupy wine.

Life gets harder still,
yet my consolation is great.
I grow easier,
as the expansive love called God
soothes life’s sharp edges.

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