Sometimes when I read or hear a word or a phrase, my mind takes off in unexpected ways. Out of it comes a poem from my viewpoint on whatever it was that struck me in deep, hidden places. Sometimes it touches my funny bone; sometimes it touches the place where tears lie hidden, and often I don’t know which direction the poem will take.

To help you understand why I wrote each poem, I’ve included some of the words, the phrases, the places, the how and why a certain thought took root and certain poems came to be. In that understanding, perhaps you, too, can feel some of what I felt at the moment of their creation.

I wrote the words to Inside Out one night at 12:18 a.m. when I couldn’t sleep. Our new pastor, who also writes poetry, expressed an interest in reading some of mine, and though I said, “That would be great,” in reality I was taken aback and slightly embarrassed to think that I would show my poetry to her. Poetry is such a private thing. Putting my thoughts and feelings into words, and then exposing those private thoughts, felt threatening and made me feel very vulnerable. But when I actually read some of them aloud to a group, it became a freeing thing. Maybe others might find hope and blessing because of what I have written. But in the middle of that long-ago sleepless night, this was how exposing my poetry to her scrutiny felt to me. And the title of this book was formed.

INSIDE OUT

Let me read your poem
she said to me
I held my breath
and thought
to let you read my words
would be like reaching
down to take
my quivering heart
turn it inside out
and hang it on the line
for all the world to see.
The words I use
come from my
deepest thoughts
the part of me that’s me
and even I
don’t always know
what’s waiting
for me there.
But I will let you in
if only for awhile
so we can read each other’s soul
and feed thereon.