Graveside Goodbyes was officially released this morning! Eight poems of grief and healing, the album will simultaneously break your heart and make you feel alive.
Monthly Archives: April 2016
Razzle Dazzle
I recently had to put a pet down for the first time. I’d had Tazzle for 7 years, since she was almost a year old, and she was a loving, loyal cat who got rapidly and inexplicably sick, losing much of her body weight, her ability to walk, and her ability to control her bladder in a matter of days. I made up a little ditty as I drove her to the vet, and sang to her the whole way there, then petted her until the light left her eyes.
I don’t know that I believe in an afterlife, but I do know that she was loved, and she’s no longer in pain. I can’t really ask for more than that.
She used to love being called Razzle Dazzle Tazzle, and I’d call her over to me with that and she’d come running, purring up a storm. This poem is for her.
Razzle Dazzle
I’d like to say I remember a day
when scattered hopes are gathered,
but the pounding in my head
leaves me far too bruised and battered.
You’ve been gone for two days
and already I’m a haze
of bad dreams, restless sleep
and a numbness I can’t beat.
I search for happy endings
whenever I try to write,
but tonight tears pour too free,
water drowning my sight.
Tazzle, you were far too young
to be given to the Reaper.
He laid his claim just the same,
no longer here to suffer.
Razzle Dazzle, dance on stars,
but remember me someday.
Find me when I leave this life,
old and wizened gray.
We’ll tumble down a rainbow
together that day.
<3
Spoken Word Albums and Other Updates!
I apologize for my long silence, but a job was swallowing my life for a while. However, there are some exciting new updates!
- I recently released a spoken word poetry album on Bandcamp. You can find it here: War Songs for Peace Keepers
- I am a quarter of the way through recording another spoken word album, this one entitled Graveside Goodbyes. It should be released this month.
- I plan to release a short album (EP) every month until at least July. They’re all written and waiting for recording and mixing.
- I am doing a major site overhaul to make sections of the site more convenient to access. So far the Home Page and Spoken Word Poetry sections have undergone their first round of edits, so check them out and let me know what you think!
- I’ve started singing my original poems and songs at open mics around the valley as an add-on to my poetry, so if you see an open mic listed on the calendar, you might be in for a new treat!
- There are three more books planned for release in the upcoming months. Two are poetry and one is something entirely different. Keep your eyes on this blog for more details and some previews!
Speaking of previews, here’s a preview of the album cover for Graveside Goodbyes:
James Avery Fuchs signing out!
(P.S.: I finally got my legal name change!)
The Big Bang (Poem)
From Pyrite: Tales of Promise and Deception
In retrospect, we shouldn’t have called you our son.
The sun is a pale fire in comparison to your brilliance.
No, you are a neutron star,
densely packed dreams spinning their way to fulfillment.
I know that light gleaming brightly enough can burn,
but your flames are such a glorious way to go.
Lately, though, your glow has dimmed,
and sometimes I wonder whose light you reflect
and if there’s any of your own left.
Nowadays, you’re more of a moon,
small and wan, orbiting others,
far too afraid to be free.
But I know that someday
the universes inside your heart will burst into motion,
and as they expand,
life will once more grow behind your eyes.
You are creation
And I, simply the creator.
Ignite!
The Art of the Controlled Blaze (Poem)
My brother is my lifeline,
an electric current that tugs me to life.
Separated by an ocean nine time zones wide,
his voice still sounds like home.
We met the first place I’d ever felt safe:
a haven of kindness buried in the dark.
It was a forum that served as shelter
for rebels daring to seek themselves.
Even among them, he stood out.
I was a forest fire waiting to happen:
a destructive blaze of overwhelming passion.
I raced toward burn-out, fueled by emotion,
but his passion was a river that fed into an ocean.
He taught the art of the controlled blaze
and cut a clear path through brambles and haze.
When we spoke, I couldn’t believe:
wise as he was, he was only fourteen.
Now seven years later, we speak every week.
Oceans can’t stop us. He’s brother to me.
He’s changing the world one video game at a time
as I soothe souls through song and rhyme.
My brother is my lifeline,
an electric current that tugs me to life.
Separated by an ocean nine time zones wide,
his voice still sounds like home.