HeyJaredThe Midlife Sonnet
Poetry, planted in Midwestern soil, that seeks the beautiful in the ordinary.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 23, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest issues
You’ve Changed (opens the original)
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedA friend asked over lunch, “Has writing poetry changed you?” I told him… I know the difference between hydrangeas and chrysanthemums for the first time in my life. Rather than walking past the bedroom window, I’ll stop and watch hummingbirds dart and dance at the feeder. On a random Tuesday, I laid in the grass for the first time in seventeen years just to feel the sun on my face. I’ll turn off the radio and drive in silence
Books I’ve Never Read (opens the original)
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy shelves are full of books I’ve never read. My son once asked me, “Is this what adults do? Sit around, smoking a pipe, listening to jazz records, surrounded by books they’ve never read?” How did you know?<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1521587760476-6c12a4b040da?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMD
A Fork in the Road at the Coffee Shop (opens the original)
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedCars pass, coffee brews, music pulses, keyboards clack, phones chime, but outside the window someone has planted a tree in the middle of the sidewalk. There it stands. Quietly defiant. Inviting us to choose the narrow path. <a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1583815369067-79d49557f45a?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzM
Hieroglyphics (opens the original)
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedIt’s painful to be misunderstood, but who can blame them? I can barely understand myself. I’ll keep stringing lines and curves together on blank pieces of paper to see if anyone can make sense of this.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1592819695396-064b9572a660?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYX
September (opens the original)
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedA blood red stain surfaces on the green canvas of trees outside my window. Withered brown leaves attend a memorial service at the bottom of the pool. Once proud cornstalks huddle with bated breath, awaiting the pale rider.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1635674663782-9a9dd051fc99?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8
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