The roots of this blog are in The Great Isolation of COVID-19. I set out to journal my way through the pandemic, but soon became too discouraged to continue. I decided instead to collect all my poems in one place so that they might not one day be entirely forgotten. I began to gather my poems – most of which were written more than 20 years ago – and was delighted when I also found myself writing new poems. Common themes of my poetry include family, love of all types, faith and the occasional lack thereof, loss of innocence and a love of place (hello, Lake Michigan!).
I live near Ann Arbor, Michigan, with my wife, Linda, and a dog named Lincoln. Linda and I have a whole passel of grandchildren, some of whom live nearby. I got sober in 2012; my more recent poems could not have been written were I still carrying on a not-so-secret love affair with vodka. Help is available.
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I try to post a new poem every Monday, although life sometimes gets in the way.
in my Greek sailor’s hat.
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Joseph Neely, all rights reserved
The Occasional Poem 