Feelings, imagery, and imagination
“A piece of the rhythm of despair.”, what T.S. Eliot called his poem The Waste Land.
Collectively, Eliot’s work reveals his view of poetry as an exploration of human despair, spiritual alienation, and the solemn search for redemption amid decay. My son Slade indicated, and girlfriend Natali concurred, that my poems are somber, bleak, and dark. I even penned a poem titled Combustible which features a theme of redemption. I am not comparing myself to T.S. Eliot. Simply making the statement that poetry can often be bleak, solemn, and desperate as it is raw, unencumbered, vulnerable, and transparent feelings and emotions.
Here are the poems I wrote for my boys every Valentines day. I will let you decide.
Two Men and a Picture (2009)
I want to paint a picture with you.
A picture that will last generations and be cherished by many.
A picture that will be painted by the three of us but will out live us all.
A picture that tells a story of manhood.
We all start off the same…are presented with the same canvas.
But how we paint the picture depends on us.
This picture will be filled with fear, tragedy, pain, growth, suffering and lessons learned.
But it will also be filled with joy, love, respect, knowledge, strength, honor, courage, harmony, tenderness, and bravery…all that is good in life.
This picture cannot be completed overnight.
It is a process not an event.
It is built of mutual understanding, respect, mistakes and perseverance.
It will take all of our energy to build this picture.
It is up to us.
As the sun sets on this painting, it will not end with us but be cherished by all generations and will change the world.
It will help make other boys men.
Make other generations strong.
It will be an example but more importantly it will be a picture of how one man helped two boys become men.
Better then Friends, Brothers (2010)
I want to go to college with my brother.
I want to sing and dance like my brother.
I want to read big words like my bothers.
I want to make sure my brother is never made fun of.
I want my brother and I to be one.
My brother and I may not always agree,
My brother and I may not hurt each other sometimes.
My brother and I may not like the same foods.
My brother and I may see the world differently.
My brother and I may take different paths.
He is my only brother…
So, I will always defend him.
I will not even let my dad yell at him.
I will not let him feel alone.
I will not let him take the wrong path.
We are each other’s keeper.
We are each other best friend.
No, we are more than best friends we are brothers.
We are of the same breathe.
We love each other more then we love ourselves.
Livin’ the Dream (2011)
You race down a hill just because you can.
You jump off the deep end like a big man.
You love to read books and dream you are a hero.
You like to dance and pretend you are la viva loco.
You play a game of life to simulate the real thing.
You sing ‘Just a Dream’ until you head starts to ring.
You do multiplication as if you are in the sixth grade.
You set your goal to read two hundred books in a month instead of decade.
We all have our dreams and some of them come true.
But not many can reverse the two, like the both of you.
As I grow old and you grow young.
I see in your eyes a new dream that has just sprung.
When I sit alone it’s easy to reflect.
That both of my boys have filled their souls with whatever they dream of next.
The say that dreams are for dreamers, but oh are they so wrong.
The dream is reality and reality the dream for those that are strong.
Valentine’s Day(2012)
The sun is setting — a cold wind blows.
Oh, how time has no mercy on our soul.
It seems like just yesterday I feed you a bottle.
Today you run down the beach at full throttle.
I listen, I love, and I hope I am true.
For the time together has suddenly flew.
Was it just yesterday I read to you in bed?
Many moments like these are nothing but memories in my head.
I want to laugh, play, and bare my soul to you every day.
Is there really enough love to send your way?
Just yesterday we hiked, swam, and sang together.
These are the moments that I want to hold on forever.
I hope and I pray that I am showing you the right way,
and that when you are older you come to me on Valentine’s Day
Close (2013)
Come near me
I want to hug you.
The beat of your heart
It soothes me.
When I am not near you
I long to see your face
Distance is a mirage -
So close yet so far.
Walk into the bistro,
You can smell the sauce.
Is it the food that
Calls us together?
Or the story you are
about to tell ?
When we talk,
I can feel your heart open.
The gap is bridged -
All is forgiven.
One taste of love
and nothing else matters.
There are no mistakes -
no strings attached.
Boy and son silent -
Staring at the stars.
Connect in thought,
absorbed in the moment.
As connect as a hug…
Glitch (2014)
A struggle to say the right thing.
A decision made for ill gain. A door not opened.
Lost dreams casting a long shadow.
Snap, the road narrows.
The mountains fade into the fog.
The vigor of the day runs swallow.
Darkness consumes the innocence.
A single picture defines what was.
A hug captures the emotion.
The eyes reveal the divine.
Wait, hold it…let me cling to that.
All is not lost.
Stand still long enough and you will know.
Let go of your heart and they will know.
Release your soul and who cares who knows.
This is it — what I have wanted.
This will let me rest in peace.
At least for this flickering moment,
if and only if, it effects me.
Pure (2015)
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The beauty of thinking you will never grow old.
The thought that mankind is kind.
The naivety to believe in hope.
And a patient heart that is forgiving.
Skip a stone a million skips.
Count all the stars in the sky.
See the beauty in a murky pond.
Love the embrace of the sunshine.
Feeling most alive by touching the ocean.
Seeing a person and not a color.
Seeking without having to find.
Understanding without having to be understood.
Trust without worrying what could go wrong.
Integrity in the face of those intending to harm.
Being victimized without playing the victim.
Not being vanquished by disappointment.
You speak the truth without causing harm.
Harmful words make you feel compassion.
It is possible to capture forever in a day.
There is fire is in your belly, shine in your eyes, and a sparkle in your heart.
The innocence to appreciate.
Time is not of the essence; but move with urgency.
Exuberance that has no bound.
With a thought, you will forever be young.
Wisdom is your chariot, and youth your stick.
You mustn’t let the stick morph into a flagellant.
Instead live in a world where hope is your King,
and passion your Queen.
Abyss (2016)
You live by the averages.
Play by the rules.
You walk a straight line,
To try to satisfy the fools.
You plan for tomorrow,
So that you feel safe and secure.
What happens in between,
Is not seen as a jewel.
The law of averages do not apply,
For on any given day you may die.
Your blanket provides a false safe haven to hide;
While the embers of truth quickly subside.
Look at the idiot out in the cold,
While those that fit the norm quickly grow old.
Out on the edge you will find,
The water calmer than the main channel.
So sit in your chair and watch the world go by,
or pick up the axe and hack through the ice.
Pleasing someone’s fears is not the end game,
Instead to have embraced the abyss within.
Metaphor (2017)
I am so strong
I am untethered,
Friend or foe
It is no matter
Reach for the trees
Capture the sunshine,
Bend but don’t break
I find my way around
No concept of time
Uninhibited by space,
I flow with my own rhythm
Unencumbered, all lay in my wake
Resourceful and scrappy
No need to show force,
Move around and over
I judiciously plough through
I smite the unjust
Show mercy on the meek,
Touching all that gives life
I calm myself, and settle in grace
Relinquish (2018)
Throw it all away
Let it all go,
Leave it behind
Be unfettered
Time is of the essence
It does not wait for you,
It takes away your breath
And steals your soul
Let it ride
Let it roll,
Be your master
Follow your flow
You can only look back
You can not reconstruct,
Vanquish the desire
Stay true to yourself
Take it all now
Leave nothing behind,
Take it up a notch
Put it all on the line
Outlier (2019)
Listen to the preacher
As he spews hate,
Pay attention to the leader
As she manipulates
You can stand complicit
And say you must capitulate,
Or you can raise up
And expose the masquerade
Let your breath be daring
Let reason accentuate,
Just because others can’t relate
It is no reason to watch and wait
Most will stand afar
Others may sheepishly participate,
A few will help create
A change that will validate
The future is unclear
The road is broken,
It is up to you
To act and rehabilitate
Combustible (2020)
I wish it could have been different
I wish I would have known,
To hold back the heart
tarnishes the endeavor
I did the best I could
Is just a lame excuse,
It is much better
To have put gasoline on the fire
I reflect on the moments
I often wonder why,
I wanted it to be special
Instead I made it a tussle
I think I know how
To bring it all around,
To make it that much better
So we can illuminate the desire
It starts with an embrace
It ends with a yearning,
There is no need to hesitate
Let’s sit down and commiserate
My intent was for the poems are seeking connection, and exhibit longing, attempt to provide life advice, intend to encourage, and provide a cynically pragmatic view of life and love. The poems encapsulate my value, believes, and perspectives on father and son relationships, and yearning to be a better parent.
About the author: Tom is driven by three things: paying it forward, creating new, new things, and connecting people. Tom’s values are passion, integrity, and fun. Tom is fanatical about revolutionizing health care after suffering a LAD heart attack and cardiac arrest.
Tom is a Member of Advisor Board for Champion the Challenges. He is the Patient Advocate Ambassador for the Heart & Stroke AI Sidekick developed by Champion the Challenges and powered by the Sidekick Platform. Tom publishes content to help patients recovery from a heart incident on Tom’s Heart. His heart attack and cardiac arrest incident story and timeline are located on the Champion the Challenges website.
He is the founder and president of toosoon.ai. Too Soon is the consumerization of pre-sale intent data in real estate. The solution is for home buyers and small-scale real estate investors who are dissatisfied that the best opportunities are discovered first by agents, wholesalers, and professional investors using data ordinary consumers never see. Too Soon is the first direct-to-consumer real estate marketplace. Too Soon is building the largest consumer-focused life-event intelligence platform for residential real estate, and personal assets.
He is the founder and curator of the is BullShit brand. is Bullshit publishes books, podcasts, and blog posts debunking and disputing myths regarding technology, corporate culture, self-help, life advice, financial planning, leadership, business, and more. He is calling bullshit on social norms and the standard way of doing things- teaching people how to unlearn what they have learned. The inaugural book in the is Bullshit series is available on Amazon — Life Advice is Bullshit.
He is the founder and president of IBS Publications, LLC. IBS is the distributor is Bullshit branded books and materials. IBS authors call out the structural deceptions, the hidden agendas, and the comfortable lies that institutions and leaders use to pacify individuals and preserve their own power. IBS Publications isn’t a vanity press for one voice — it’s an open imprint. We sign outside authors ready to write their own volume under the is BullShit trademark, or existing publications with a bullshit motif: practitioners with raw, lived experience in healthcare, technology, corporate leadership, personal finance, or wherever conventional wisdom has quietly rotted.
Tom is the founder of the Ma Pesch Foundation — paying it forward is the the only way to live. The Ma Pesch Foundation provides scholarships to young adults seeking a Science Technology Engineering and Math (#STEM) degree.
Tom occupies his time mountain biking, meditating, snowboarding, reading, water skiing and surfing, playing pickleball, writing, golfing, riding his Harley, scuba diving, hiking, and dipping into cold water.
