t. kilgor spake's The Poet Tree

t. kilgore splake hails from Three Rivers Michigan, he was born Thomas Hugh Smith in 1936 and while teaching at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan he took to writing poetry. He chose early retirement in 1989 to live in creative poverty and is now living in Calumet in the Keweenaw peninsula. His collection of poems, The Poet Tree, from Kamini Press features the riches of nature and family life. I’m happy to share several poems with you:


poet tree

denander drawings
lilliput poems
tibetan prayer flag colors
suffering autumn storms
vanishing in winter blizzards
buried until spring
to be born again

This poem is a guilty pleasure for me, Mr. Splake features the small press editors Henry Denander and Don Wentworth with the first two lines, then the way they persevere year after year through the seasons always renewing themselves through poetry. At least, that’s how I think of this poem, how about you?



dad

unable to remember
last time dad
hugged or kissed me
let me hold his hand
he had his job
basement and garage
massive collection of tools
my becoming a poet
would have disappointed emery
who wanted a son
with college diploma
happily married
giving him grandchild or three
with boring bland work
wearing dead pecker suit
selling life insurance
not chasing creative itch
writing new
another poem

Another guilty pleasure poem for me but I think you all will like it, too. So many of us pursue things our parents didn’t anticipate for our lives and this poem captures Mr. Splake’s life perfectly and can still be relateable to our own lives. Our creative pursuits may not be lucrative or filled with fame, they may not be understood by family but we pursue them anyway. Thank you Mr. Splake for this peak into your life and your passion for poetry.



waking from darkness

tortured eternity
writer’s black brain death
skull cavity empty
first dawn
streaking far horizon
steady light snow
turning paris white
rue Montparnasse
lover’s footsteps
vanishing in
early morning light

I think this is a great poem for writers, it captures the “tortured soul” often attributed to writers and yet the morning light floods in after a lover leaves us behind providing that beam of hope. Lovely poem, yes?


For a copy of The Poet Tree by t. kilgore splake, you may purchase the signed edition for $9.00 or the limited edition with signed artwork for $18.00, prices include shipping/handling anywhere in the world at Kamini Press:

http://kaminipress.com/2010/02/18/t-kilgore-splake-the-poet-tree/


For beautiful books with equally beautiful poetry, visit:
http://kaminipress.com/

Thanks always for reading, please click in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound...