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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Rest Area

Anyone gotta go?

I really appreciate
an open rest area.
It’s a place to pause,
where we weary travelers
can choose to stop along
the busy highway of life
in order to refresh ourselves
for the long, hard road ahead.

A rest area is where
I bump into my own humanity
in all its shapes and sizes,
in all its colors and creeds,
in all its invisible variety
except for that universal need
to stop and to take a break
before moving on.

The rest area embodies
our very best instincts,
from our acknowledgement
of being human,
to the need for creating
a space where we may attend
to the most practical aspects
of being alive.

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