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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Browse the Twelve Volumes
Brian’s collected pieces, volume by volume.
Immigrant Song
An ode to empathy.
Let’s go to the ocean.
Sand and shells in a bottle
don’t tell the whole story.
I need to know why
staring at them on the shelf
brings wave upon wave
of cold, thirsty convulsion.
I don’t know the ocean
as someone dwelling nearby
or toiling for a living upon it.
Yet I’m drawn to the water
as if the moon is seducing me
with her undulating passion.
Somehow, somewhere,
sometime long, long ago,
I crossed over that body,
only to now find myself
alive in this one.