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.
When the Levee Breaks
Over a lifetime a man may become a levee,
struggling to restrain all those emotions
which he’s held back,
to keep from flooding the valley of his life.
She weeps like a steady rain
through her relationships,
through the lives she brings forth,
and for the inevitable death
which comes with great generativity.
You don’t know me,
he says angrily.
And she doesn’t.
We don’t.
None of us know him.
He protects himself with violence,
because he can’t fathom what he’ll do
with all of his sadness
when the levee breaks.