Ryan D. Riehle

Poet and maybe something more or...

Mission Statement

My feelings on poetry have changed a great deal since I first entertained the idea of becoming a poet, from prop to province, not that I disparage anyone for whatever drives one's poetry or suitable art.

Poetry possesses many uses and may not be right to write, though is certainly for everyone to read, absorb. If you, by chance, believe that the creative writing arts can't change the world, then don't bother reading any further. This immortalized node within the vastness that is the internet is not for the idle nor the cantankerous mind.

And once again, not that I assume one's inability, rather I assume all my readers, potential or otherwise, to be intelligent for fear of doing them a disservice. For what kind of poet, or any teacher, artist, "dumbs down" their work for, and to, the determent of others. Not I, if I can help it.

Now to the heart, the purpose being this, is to release, if not the bulk, then the very best of my poetry through the web. I have sat on my work long enough, happy with the poems I've finalized over the years.

Long have I wrestled with how to share my work, the first being traditional publication, but the very thought makes me weary, and self-publication is just as discouraging, despite its expediency and promptness. To be fair, my frustration does not solely rest with agents and publishers, nor do they share all the blame: It's the system, itself, that vexes me, but the details are unimportant, for now.

For an artist, recognition is like energy, it must be transferred, not destroyed. I used to think, in my ignorance, that I did not require an immediate audience; but by imparting a part of myself through poetry (energy transferred) and receiving recognition in return (energy received), my sustainment, my poetry via the cycle metaphorically described, can continue vigorously.

Another reason to release my work for free, essentially, involves inequity, reading comprehension's wide division. If that makes you angry. Good, it should. If it makes you shake with rage, smolder with righteous indignation, then know you are not alone in your fight to emphasize the cruciality of education equity.

Moreover, like mathematics, cognitive science, which is associated with reading comprehension, provides not only a window into another world, but imparts one with a worldly perspective far beyond just regurgitating facts. Simply put, the degree of one's cognitive awareness greatly influences one's understanding, from the overt to the subtle, from the fundamental to the complicated, from the vague to the distinct, ergo, from familiarity to mastery.

Achievement, in part, rests on which books one chooses to consume, to comprehend. Intelligence is largely developmental, especially within the context I've described. My point is this—a high reading level is its own kind of privilege, thus it is only fair that I share what I have learned and what I am still learning, which begs the question: Is my work worth consuming? You, the reader—you decide.