A Voice of Peace in Chaos

Although I struggle to understand Brian's "clear focus" for our new site, I wanted to share this link with whoever chooses to read this. James Tyner is a guy I met way back in my undergrad at CSUF in an advanced poetry writing class. He was an amazing poet back then and now he just floors me. He has undergone many trials in his life, which you will read about in his poetry, but the most amazing thing to me is that the violence he experienced early in his life made him a pacifist and, for some time, a monk. I wish that they had a voice recording of him reading these works because that adds so much soul and depth to them, but the words alone will leave you speechless. The tension between the life of a pacifist and the emotion he feels is so palpable and so beautifully constructed that you will return to it again and again. These particular poems have earned him the title of Finalist in the 2008 WinningWriters.com War Poetry Contest where all three of them are now published. His writing is simple, but powerful and I hope that you take the time to experience it. Click here to read these three amazing poems.