Odin Roark's Profile

MIND PUPPETS by Odin Roark -- Where is that...

There's a doorway into the not-too-distant...

Terrorist, Nuri Azawa, conspiring on his...

After some additional nips and tucks, I hope...

Because I've received varying comments on the...

When I first posted this, way back, I thought...

Because the other 364 days of the year we tend...

You're either one of us, or you're not, right?

As the holiday season of the year approaches...

Two years later. A prosetry exploration: Does...

I find it interesting at times to bring to the...

Experiences sometimes represent allegories long...

So often we give too little acknowledgment to...

Just a stream of thought regarding the...

Falling down is common, from birth to old age....

Misrepresentation kept slapping me in the face...

When love is love until it isn't

Thoughts on the cost of decisions.

I normally don't approve of qualifying a poem,...

On any given day, how do we ponder our lives?...

As a departure from my norm, this is a Slam I...

The fear of being hurt only clouds the light...

It seems so easy to take for granted the...

A minor indictment seeking to understand.

The lament of time lost

As Father's Day approaches, we who've tasted...

A tribute to my muse as a sexagenarian defies...

For all those who continue undaunted by other's...

I seldom re-publish, but this poem first penned...

As bells jingle through the next couple of...

For the adult, when one’s mother is gone,...

As 2007 approaches, how many of us have learned...

Standing in a subway ushers many moments to act...

With Valentine's Day upon us and its...

The Academy Awards partially vindicated itself...

An experiment in time and space, as seen...

Expressing one's state of mind on this first...

Finding myself struggling to ground some...

Given continuous "same ol'" headlines, here are...

With so much pressure to become the collective...

As the 1st approaches, I’m left wondering:...

Remembering my grandmother as perhaps she...

Some of the infinite sources that stoke the...

Everybody has a past they either embrace or try...

Time is truly a healer; its cost easily...

After viewing the "pomposity" (thank you Mr....

Denying one’s muse is not an option. Such...

Before the country's back is completely broken...

There is little we know, but horde. There is...

It’s easy to forget love has many forms.

Another year...another cycle. This morning's...

Some believe we don’t find love, love finds...

After a few weeks of intense reverie, respite...

For some of us, spiritual rallies are but inept...

For some, dreams remain the quintessential...

How unforeseen the evolution of chance, the...

So much rhetoric re: “what our children will...

Knowing this is far from a finished work, I...

Was it all figured out in the time of Socrates?

For every disappointment, there is a lesson to...

Thoughts as a Senator moves through foreign lands.

Courage of thought is perhaps difficult for...

Climbing some rock then a quick dip in the...

Unlike long ago, today, digitized memories are...

In the absence of sufficient legitimate...

After years on the site, recalling the...

A prosetry exploration: Does today's super...

This came while thinking about how often we...

Obama awaits in the wings. The question of...

With today's headlines pounding us to be and...

The election morning after is a humbling...

An experience might convey artistic thought,...

I was compelled on reading the CNN Breaking...

Personifying "lonely" as a state of mind that...

Put myself in a silly mood this morning trying...

How it might be.

Fortunately we'll never be without his essence.

At the risk of sounding stuck on a theme,...

It’s Sunday coming. From a grown up...

Hopefully my thoughts for the innocent caught...

In life’s quest for happiness, for some,...

This is just a quick reflection for the day....

Many would argue waking up is more than opening...

Having an appreciation for the power of mirrors...

There is always the risk we allow ourselves to...

Being only able to imagine the loss sustained...

The countdown of historical proportions stands...

I guess I should first off beg some forgiveness...

Last night, while inane entertainment held the...

I'm sure we've all had such thoughts. Sharing...

Having finished the rewrite on chapter 8 of...

Another rant, but one that I hope spurs you on...

Can we afford to only look ahead?

Having read several poems on site regarding...

Bleak and not pretty. "Still waiting for a...

With so much to contend with, why so much denial?

Many would argue that the dichotomy of the...

Surviving myself while growing up seems forever...

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the...

Many things can be said about New York City,...

While we wait out Financial Regulation Reform,...

To all who harbor angst at a distant past...

Survival exercised in Life’s game of choice.

To know oneself seems clear when we overcome...

What started out as commentary, somehow evolved...

If you've ever had a dream about family that...

Some argue the writer is merely the conduit...

Sotheby’s, that place where art seems to be...

Why must the spoils of fame's fortune so often...

One can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.

To think for oneself might be the real “to be...

Listening to Nino Rota’s scores reminds me of...

Having recently read a book of startling facts...

-As further bubbles burst with Italy’s latest...

Exploring the purpose and history of our hands...

While listening to Phillip Glass’s The Hours,...

With Holiday madness upon us once more, ever...

Taking a hard look around--will earth, with us...

As I reflect on poets and story tellers from...

Given the disaster of the Gulf Coast, the...

“One�? of anything continues to be...

Everyone has a favorite time of the day. For...

On the November day when many give thanks for...

On the eve of several of the most important...

“Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a...

Focusing on upcoming events, mainly the college...

After reading Mary Ruefle’s essay “On...

Trying to stay abreast of the daily global...

In the reverie of Birdland clubs everywhere,...

As parents gather to witness the college...

It's that time of the year, and like...

As our troops leave one battle zone and return...

- For most queries there are variant answers....

Being a long time follower of independent...

We know little of simple creation, this genesis...

As Syria, Tunisia and Egypt carry on their...

While the headlines report inhuman atrocities,...

As holidays come once again, one’s childhood...

How futile the attempt of many to find...

Dealing with distance, I’m reminded that this...

Even as the editing process of Echosis seems...

How slave-like we struggle against such...

The week ahead promises this country storms of...

With camera in hand, burial grounds of youthful...

As much as technology and modern living often...

Central Park remains its usual casual “run...

Friendship in a friendless city.

A daily awakening asks much of us. How much...

Having explored some gravesites this past week...

Reworking the original posting, the following...

Seems this time of year either becomes a moment...

Just a sharing of one person’s perception....

As a no-fly zone hearkens to a repetition of...

Sometimes, the headlines become overwhelming...

Ever notice how difficult it is to find a...

Climbing mountains sometimes creates experience...

As the Right peddles their nonsensical...

Interesting how a New Year allows that...

- What started out as a simple comment took on...

What does the mirror truly reflect?

Even though we celebrate Halloween but once a...

Acknowledgment for those who recently paused a...

Thanksgiving cleanup time allows thinking...

For all of you whose gardening fingers...

Reading some of your work today left me...

With so much continued emphasis being placed by...

For those of us relying on language as...

After watching a short editorial comment on TV...

Ever notice how melancholy sneaks up on us?...

Not much of a poem; More of a prosetry purge...

As the prologue to my novel Mind Puppets, I am...

While thinking about the capacities we have to...

Some days are full of more questions than can...

My muse nudges me from time to time to lighten...

While reading some world news today, it...

For all us delusional and...

While recently re-reading of “Lucy’s Baby"...

Having originally posted this back 2010, I find...

Centuries before New Agers, quiet understanding...

As some called militia train hard to take down...

As I read of rail-travel's levitational future,...

The other kind of sleeping state.

After reading a Times article re: Kafka’s...

This is what happens when one realizes there is...

When one thinks about it, tears of laughter can...

Hopefully, this play on memories, observed...

A new Arizona law making the profiling of...

Are dreams but reminders that nothing ends...

An exchange with Berkey is to surrender one’s...

Ernest Hemingway celebrated the art and...

The young among us wish for time to speed up,...

I find it interesting how experiences of the...

The Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles...

If, like me, you have those unexplainable...

There is a childlike quality of creation that...

As the universe archives another 365 days, the...

While we wait out Financial Regulation Reform,...

For some of us, simple beginnings elude our...

The duality of inside and outside one’s...

Closure of family disappointment, hurt, loss...

As "Writer sans Name" attempted to explore,...

It’s Sunday…time for court.

To many, last night’s execution was just a...

Revisiting Campbell McGrath’s writings, some...

Okay, yes, it is difficult at times to not be...

To loved ones who know and feel Memorial Day,...

Accepting we create our own reality is often a...

As I complete the polish on my novel, Echosis,...

The events of late arrest wonderment at our...

With trying to makes ends meet on the minds of...

Just another morning for us humanists. “The...

(updated 11/17/12) - With BP's settlement,...

Is the conundrum of love endless? Another...

Some think that love is reserved for the young....

As Father’s Day approaches, try as we may,...

We all have reflections we pass by, while some...

Awakening from surreal dreams can make hell the...

My rewrites of Echosis challenge not only...

For the tenacious, answers eventually surface,...

Why do we write? A poet on the site commented...

As the long 4th of July weekend swoops down on...

Every life, whether as mountain climber, or...

As fireworks light up the sky tonight, what...

In John Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, the...

Nothing like a Holiday weekend coming up to...

Finding peace amidst the chaos is but one of...

Love knows not, save an understanding of hate....

Partnerships in life require more focus and...

Battlefields know no boundaries, no mental...

Some things seems imponderable…until...

After reading A New Man by skeptikoi, I was...

Meant neither to preach, or to suggest a...

Browsing through the back-story for one of the...

Unemployment windows are bad enough, but for...

As my favorite season sets in, I couldn’t...

I often think we don’t celebrate imperfection...

Experimenting with this one. Don't know if its...

As “reform�? in most every corner begs...

How a poet perceives his or her surroundings...

The oneness of Nature seems so...

As Election Tues approaches, these few words...

The Modern Jazz Quartet may be foreign to some...

Maintaining curiosity and a desire to learn is...

There are some of us capable of seeing and some...

Let the nonsense continue. Even though there's...

For those who climb, or even take on a...

– Occupy Wall Street might be a mere calm...

After watching a succession of images on You...

Final 2012 debates are on the horizon. One’s...

That which we resist, persists.

Reflection sometimes flows like a movie, while...

This Thanksgiving, I’m remembering the last...

11/27/10 - Last of a reflective "growing...

A survivalist's dilemma argues: at day's end, a...

One might argue one’s choice of writing...

Birth of another kind is around the corner....

On this Father's Day, amidst my reverie,...

How often we become aware (or coerced) and buy...

Sometimes, we have to take score… we are so...

Many would argue that discovering who we really...

Ah, politics. Wouldn’t be grand if all of...

Another perspective on the conundrum of...

A continuation of remembrances this week end,...

Another day in Syria as: CBS - “ Opposition...

Recent scientific discoveries suggesting water...

With so many ideas worth personifying, the...

There are times when snapshots of one’s past...

We sometimes work so hard to create definition...

Might defining the poet merely state the obvious?

For many, youth’s memories become...

Lessons learned years ago just came to the...

Try as we might to hold firm, change is...

I sometimes focus on how well off I am, having...

Images of power wielded over us are so...

With Holiday madness upon us once more, I...

Try as I might, it's difficult to stay focused...

Not wanting to appear as a hog for space here,...

12/26/10 - The day after…even though my own...

As that time of the year approaches, paternal...

After watching a “Prometheus” trailer, I...

For many of us, the blank screen or page is a...

Yes, free speech and persuasive argumentation...

Whether in relationships, business, or...

One of my reviewers wondered if I ever just...

Watching an old Playhouse 90 production last...

1/11/11 - Today’s date arrested a focus on...

Another exploration into the word that...

A dedication to the modern element charting our...

Sometimes a work of art can take one to...

The language of the unspoken conjures up worlds...

Having had to look up the title of my poem as a...

Does the analogy support the premise that...

Lean focus, like the hunger needs of many,...

Do we find love, or does love find us?

People have been playing marbles and...

Perhaps it is the insistence of immediate...

Looking around, it seems so easy for some to...

Would appreciate comments as to whether this...

I would appreciate knowing if this experiment...

Rummaging through my desk drawer, I realized...

It wasn't long ago we witnessed the familiar...

In light of some 2012 "reading" statistics I...

The exponential speed of evolution and...

Man seems to be exercising more of its...

This is an attempt to settle some disturbing...

Decisions, opinions, arguments abound amidst an...

Mirroring the headline's conundrum of freedom...

Dare we hope for a day when the ratings-hungry...

2:00 AM in Times Square

Dedicated to those of us believing the universe...

Loves attempt to preserve itself sometimes goes...

Sometimes events take time to be realized fully.

Changes present renewed forevers…hopefully...

Today’s spring waltz of colors bursting...

The world does change, albeit slower than...

Monday morning. Back to the media’s normal...

While preparing pages for Occam’s Legacy,...

As poets, we tend to find multiple meanings and...

“Why can’t we all get along…” a...

For some, exploration suggests there is no end,...

A few thoughts on Man’s greatest invention.

To meditate on the power of quiet reveals the...

With or without the existence of Bin Laden, the...

The day honoring mothers is close at hand...a...

Might we have a distorted view of wisdom?

How contingent is the future on our past?

First written in 2009, this personification,...

After years of a society’s focus on what we...

With rare exception, the top stories in the...

Just a contemplation on the way we create our...

After reading Thomas Friedman’s op-ed today...

There are dreams, and there are dreams.

Awakening before first light with one’s...

Maybe we blame memory’s toll on years, but...

There are times when mistakes seem so obvious,...

– For writers, the war never ends, even as...

Ah, the day after Christmas. You know, that...

I can’t live the life of the rich and...

The previously posted GLITTER TREE MILESTONES...

Sometimes the world leaves consciousness no...

We've all journeyed into the writer's...

As Memorial weekend begins, memories of...

The notice is brief. The impression lingers.

After his recent passing, I needed to revisit...

How ephemeral and timid at times, this thing...

Cosmetic alterations of seemingly all body...

Trusting is difficult. Promises start young,...

Sometimes, you get really pissed at beasts...

With so many distorted versions of what love...

Whether it's redistribution of wealth,...

Just a simple reminder that experience...

Just a quiet exploration of philosophy's many...

Why does it seem conscience and aspirant truth...

Whether in the wintery mountains of...

While listening to the opening theme of...

Banyan trees tell infinity’s tale--to all who...

Seems the objects of early security follow us...

Insomnia has many remedies, but few cures.

Trying to make sense of it all sometimes...

Some would argue there are as many ways to...

The “whys” of our journey seem unknowable...

The cyclic nature of existence has many...

We sometimes dismiss inanimate objects as dead....

Recalling abstracts of a father’s love...

A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to...

Aurora is but another reminder that it is not...

With so much death in the world, one is...

Sometimes the only solace for dealing with the...

For some of us, influences of the survival...

Sometimes attempting to stay “well read”...

Because Time never stays idle, there’s always...

If only we could see the storms coming....

On the eve of Inequality's Hubris Cliff, some...

We memorialize, but we can only imagine what...

“We are all one” is an often cliché way to...

With so much hot air being exhaled on us by...

Today, with so much distraction clamoring for...

Lest we forget, we legislate permits,...

Attempting to hold we are all one begs the...

On this Inauguration Day.

As Somalia threatens a repeat of Darfur, and...

Surreal as it might be, does matter know any end?

A poem a day proves good exercise, but oh the...

It’s Sunday morning and immersion into the NY...

On a hot August day, one’s mind wanders to...

Reading an article on the film “The Tree of...

Small moments can transform enormous needs.

Can we afford to be content with answers, when...

Dreams know day and night, but often hide in...

I’m forever perplexed by the number of people...

How many of us know of real survival?

There are so many means of toxic contamination...

For those in a large city, imagination can seem...

To look around one can’t help but wonder...

Many years ago in NYC, for a class assignment,...

Chance and safety comes in many sizes.

This morning's scathing editorial in the NY...

At the risk of seeming to try and explain a...

It was a very good year, and for me the glass...

Today brought the news that an icon of...

Attempting to define the essence of life's...

Seems not a day goes by that we’re not...

Being ruled by and being led by…how different...

Antagonism knows no single master, and even...

Love can make pondering the imponderable worth...

Sorrow spells ratings. The media says so…...

I guess when you're ready to snap with all the...

We sometimes long for travel to pacify...

When one stops to consider, Main Streets are...

Memories of parents in retirement homes. On...

The recycling of self, like evolution, results...

Try as we might, as writers, we can never fully...

The affliction of greedy monetary ambition...

Awakening on fire begs grounding.

A simple ode to the many aged New Yorkers with...

The Hypnopompic state of sleep (that period of...

Today, it is difficult to be only concerned...

Emily Dickenson’s “Because I could Not Stop...

We sometimes forget to be thankful for what we...

Most of us know how difficult it is during...

Finding peace is rare in contemporary life. In...

Exploring unique avenues of consciousness often...

“Thankfulness” for what one has is...

One can only hope that Khalil Ibrahim’s...

At one time or another, we’ve all felt the...

Change can never be stopped, try as some might....

Everyday reports of war seemingly everywhere...

Some mornings, it’s impossible to avoid...

The continuum knows nothing of endings.

There are certain jobs/environments that breed...

Notes sometimes carry long messages.

It’s difficult to imagine the suffering...

Regardless of the years, the simple gifts come...

Everyone in NY makes of life what is available....

Reading today's news, it's obvious, "Occupy...

From my novel in-progress, “Occam’s...

Some days you have only yesterdays

Having posted a version of this back on...