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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Tension

Putting something just out of reach
creates a tension.
And there’s nothing quite so intolerable
as tension.
It just sits there
explosive,
unrealized,
a seemingly infinite mass
of potential energy
waiting to be detonated
with the very real,
yet remote hope
of resolution.

This tension,
always forming everywhere,
and just beneath our breath,
is the animator of life,
the movement
before the movement,
something we can hold
without release,
and through which we feel
the very presence of God.