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Casual Poetry Drop October 2026: Kindling, Haikus & Happy Returns

Howdy, Casual Ramblers!

Happy Wednesday; I had intended to release this sooner but was caught in a whole rigamarole of priorities becoming mixed & mashed & oh my god, is it 5 P.M. already?

They say social media posts & internet posts & the like should be scheduled early in the morning for the best reach, but I have quit gainful employment over algorithms before, so why would I start listening to them now?

With that in mind, I hope you enjoy these poems. September was a very tumultuous month for me & it felt like I was holding on for dear life at times. Between all the festivals, the forays to & from Boise & a funeral, I somehow also published my first ever poetry collection, Lyrics For a Song I Don’t Know.

Something about an Aries full moon, my astrologers told me. I must have missed it while I was sick.

Time has no other motion, after all, & the way of today is now.

  • happy returns this time, happier than you imagined & lovelier than you feared these lakes go deeper than you thought & the ice has all disappeared from last time, when skys were grey & the procession led with taps you cried, unaware of how much there was left yet to bleed & how much they left to shed nor how much summer they left to spare the next time you land...
  • work haikus 1-4 good morning sickness brewing the coughy spittle dripping down my throat the sun rises late and later every day but my hours don't change now the clock comes home and with the option to call the boss can't let go good evening darkness i heard the sun was a myth hummed by fluorescents
  • casual poetry drop body image depicting a sketch of interstate 84 westbound, mount hood rises in the distance, columbia river runs to the right
  • the columbia dances when her favourite song comes on i've been moving to that old speedway boogie taking whatever light the darkness gives me peeking for a mountain tongue stuck some teething cliffs cross county lines for a river that buckles pilots & capsizes ships searching for perfumed furs they don't hop on my side of the skip regarding the rubble under the highways that the waterline came & met, i'm ready to watch her swing from a rock bottom step more than can be held back by the village & their bonnie dam--with all respect-- as we wait on the eastern band to take her damn request and give her a westward tune as raven as water as hair only her fingers may pick from the teething hills to the mounted breath i will watch her knock down every mile marked for another dead man pinned
  • loud boises this city is alive with secret worlds its sky unfurled nightly clouds roll like the hills in the distance, over river dale, we dance along the gardens, we hide beside the barns, working flames into our little rituals & finding the child within our many toys amid this love, a bubble, it wobble & it might waver but there are more solutions where that came from
  • casual poetry drop body image depicting the state capitol of idaho with flames in the background & bubbles around
  • kindle (poem) i am sorry, little love, but the way is now & time has no other motion best to go forward when there is no other option; best to rest when all others have been exhausted can't stop the magic once you have drunk the potion; can't rouse the room if you leave yourself on silent the flame has long been smoulder til you took the match & called a countdown to ignition (three, two, one...) and either way you spin it, you will in rotation but you will never go if you stop yourself from packing
  • last haikus one last sleep tonight & we can pack tomorrow one last sleep, i swear the sun is risen & i am not, already the hour has grown late time to double time & carve twice the space to boot; don't forget your shoes

Hello! Are you new to the Casual Ramble? Well, what if I told you there was more than what you see here? What if I told you there was more exclusive poetry, early access to essays & other creative works (like short films!) available on my Patreon & it’s all available for as low as $1 per month? And what if I told you the link below can show you more? Would you click it?

Like my writing? Support me on Patreon!

P.S. I feel compelled to tell you I wrote this entire post to an extended remix of “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox on repeat.

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About The Casual Rambler

An insane man moonlighting as a respectable member of society from Portland, Oregon. A rock ‘n’ roller since his mother first spun The Police’s “Roxanne,” Ben is a lover of all things independent music. Once upon a time, a friend told him to write about music. So he started doing that under the title of a Willie Bobo cover by Santana. Now he just casually rambles about whatever crosses his mind.