23
Feb

The Poetry of Dave Mattson

Poetry

Remember writing haikus in school? That 5 syllable-7 syllable-5 syllable exercise that we all undertook to better understand poetry? I have to confess that my haikus are not very worthy of posting. But fortunately, someone else’s is.

Having married into the Arnold family, I can tell you that Dave Mattson is “legendary.” He was first introduced to our family as a youth director at the local church. Later, he became a missionary to the native peoples of Alaska, where churches are often sparse. His ability to craft and fix problematic situations in people’s houses is also the stuff of legends. Regrettably, I have never met “Mattson,” as my in-laws refer to him. But, my mother-in-law suggested that I friend him on FB for his unique writing style and unusual status statements (Recently, he seems “bent” on drafting elaborate fiction about the impending royal birth in London.).  Each day he also greets FB with his thought-provoking haikus. And Mattson is decidedly better at haiku construction than your MIP author. So, today’s Poetry Saturday features some of my favorite haikus from Mattson and I hope they inspire you to move forward in your life. Thanks, Mattson, for sharing with my MIP readers. And if you like these, there are plenty more to come:

Your better future
Will be prevented if you
Hoard your bitter past

Suicide removes
What could have been the best and
Leaves only the worst behind

You can be free from
What won’t let you go when you
Look it in the eye

The future won’t wait
For you to decide how long you’ll
Remain in the past

If you do not leave
The past behind the future
Will leave without you

Do not listen to
Anyone who believes in
You less than you do

Real love believes in
What’s best in you and wants you
To overcome the worst

Succeed is what you’ll
Do despite those who would keep
You as a failure

Never be content
With less than trying something
That’s impossible

When you can take strength
From pain and faith from fear, you’ll
Be happy again

The future won’t keep
You from the past but the past
Can block your future

Monday’s Post: Word of the Week: What did you think heliacal meant?

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 23rd, 2013 at 6:55 am and is filed under Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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