THE RANSOMED POET
On October 14th, I was taken hostage by Al Qaeda linked terrorists, and held by Al Qaeda in northern Mali for 6.5 years. Released on March 20, 2023, I came home to my wife, children and grandchildren, Odin and Aris, with PTSD and stories that needed telling. It just so happens that some of those stories are best told through poems...
FEATURED POEMS
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POETRY ARCHIVE
Perception
- by Jeff Woodke
How will you paint me today? What colours will you use? Will I be a burst of fiery red, or a mass of mixed-up blues? What is my palette? What figure do you see, while you’re busy painting me? Do I stand straight, or slightly bent? Am I the devil, […]
Continue ►Gag
- by Jeff Woodke
They say some things are better left unsaid, That some poems, are better left unread. It’s best not to share all, I’m told. Please conceal the truth. My voice is stilled with a righteous gag. They heard the truth, then stuffed that rag. What I am is not what they […]
Continue ►WEEP
- by Jeff Woodke
Radiant drops of eternity rest in your soul; Perfection. Perfect, they are your truest self; Radiant. Time alters life in changing cycles; Seasons. Seasons bend the strongest of oaks; Time. Infinity abides within the moment; Eternal. I came with nothing. Guilt’s cuts weep tears of crimson. I go with nothing.
Continue ►FAITH
- by Jeff Woodke
An empty space, eternal in size, abides in us. Integral to being; our hearts crave its filling. Ambitious, we seek spackle, divine and pure, It putties the gap, devotion instilling. Terrified by faith, we build walls. Old, thick stones, cool and dark, Tempting us to believe in obscurity. Our understanding […]
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