Here I am!

Hello all.

Okay, I've only been here for a few days, but my followers have finally convinced me to share a poem......okay, I admit that "convinced" is a bit of a stretch.....fine, it's more than a stretch; I just needed an amusing start to this post and this was the best I could come up with. Anyway, I've been trying to come up with ideas to post about and things to share that would be enjoyable for my fellow Steemians, and whilst the idea of posting another photo came to mind, I thought it better to share a poem.....because, well, it does say on my profile that I'm a poet.

Now before I share this poem, a few disclaimers: 1) I'm not a poet laureate. 2) My mother says it's good and she wouldn't lie. 3) I like romantic comedies and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I know that last one has nothing to do with my poem, but I think three items really rounds out a list nicely, wheres two would have felt incomplete.

The poem I'm going to share could have been posted in my bio, as it is about me as a person; the title is "The Sum Of Me". I wrote this several years ago while at work, after having a rather profound (at the time) epiphany about myself. If I remember, I'll let you in on a little secret about some of the amusing inspiration for this poem, or at least a tiny section of it. So without further ado, "The Sum Of Me".

"Reflect upon what came before
Of what once was and is no more,
For what you saw was mere reflection
Clever guise and clear deception.
Who you saw and now yet see
Is not by far the sum of me,
For who I am you’ve not yet seen
In your most wild and vivid dream.
Hopeful, joyful, faithful, proud
And things I’ll dare to speak aloud
Vengeful, hateful, bitter, cruel
And every bit the spiteful fool.
But as a man I’m prone to change
To plumb the depths of emotional range
But now at last claim I repose
Of my past pain I’m letting go."

So that's my poem. I've got others, some better, some not so much. I don't know if you can tell from the poem, but I spend quite a lot of time in self reflection; I'm an introverted person by nature, always trying to honestly assess who I am, to know myself as best as I am able.

Now, about that amusing bit of inspiration. I'm a sci-fi and comic book guy, I am also a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" fan, more Angel than Buffy. Anyway, I find inspiration virtually anywhere, though when it comes to poetry my main source has been my life experience and the dictionary, I read it for fun because I love words. I had been watching the final episode of the final season of Angel, and they were about to go into battle; Angel tells his crew to do the one thing they've always wanted to, because they would likely die during this fight. The character "Spike", before he was turned into a vampire by Angel, was a poet and in the scene showcasing what he had always wanted to before he died, we see him in a bar filling up on liquid courage to get on stage and recite a poem for open mic night.

The poem was pretty good and in it he used the word "repose", I enjoy employing the use of archaic words, and for some reason that word stuck out for me; I knew that I wanted to use it in a poem myself, but had not yet had the epiphany that would lead to my using it. When finally the words came that would compose the poem, I knew how it would end.....and all because of an episode of "Angel".

That's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
Peace.