iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

"Reasons to Read" is a flyer I created as part of my personal promotion of literacy, education, mindfulness, empathy, tolerance, and critical thinking. I hope you find it useful. Besides the JPG, there's a PDF I shared with my library thrall.org/think #books #reading #library #literacy #education

more than a few
REASONS to READ

There are so many reasons to read, and so many potential benefits!

Why read? We can...

• be entertained
• enjoy creativity
• become more creative thinkers
• nurture our sense of wonder
• rejoice in the art of words
• entertain alternative perspectives
• learn new things
• understand people and things better
• identify misinformation
• correct misunderstandings
• be encouraged to ask new questions
• engage in critical thinking
• seek truth and receive wisdom
• broaden our expressive ranges
• become more considerate and tolerant
• relate more with others and the world
• develop and strengthen our empathy
• expand our imaginative capacities
• increase our interpretive capacities
• discover interests
• keep up with current events
• revisit history and learn from it
• prepare ourselves for changing times
• exercise our rights to read
• support the freedom of expression
• become better readers and persons
• teach others what we’ve learned
• gain and spread hope and inspiration

Reading many different things by many different persons
can make these benefits even more possible to achieve!

Why? Consider the contrary (something called confirmation bias)…

If we only immersed ourselves in works echoing our sentiments and supporting our suppositions, we’d eventually be missing out on potentially enlightening views and educational opportunities. (Ironically, if that were the case, we might not even know that was happening!)

There’s no true bliss in ignorance, but reading feeds and frees a mind!

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Happy Mother's Day to all. In keeping with that theme, here's my poem "Maternal Earth" addressing Mother Earth. It's from my second book, May We Learn from the Earth. ALT text + text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1683204... #poetry #poems #nature #naturelovers #mothersday #mother #motherearth #earth

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Maternal Earth

.THE POEM:
First mother of our fledgling world,
you nurture forests, mountains, seas.

Come speak your earthly verse to us
so we may learn your poetry.

Teach us your ways. Sustain us, please.
Defend us from our vanities.

Remind us to revere all life,
seek peace, and leave our gluttony.

Admonish us and set us straight.
Inspire us to cultivate.

END OF POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess © 2022

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Something I submitted to a "liberty" poetry challenge: DEARLY DESPOTIC (Freedom by way of self-control, not limiting others.) My lines alternate with iambic tetrameter/pentameter in the spirit of being/doing better. ALT text in image + link allpoetry.com/poem/1910516... #poetry #poem #democracy

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:

Dearly Despotic,

THE POEM:

There is one province in this world
I think you'd do so well to crush tonight,

a nameless place within your range,
if you should ever choose to govern it,

or seize it even in the dark,
as others sleep, dream laughter, liberties,

before dawn comes recalling them
to wake up to delusion's cruelest rule.

I mean a state you'd conquer quick,
if you would stoop to master it, at last,

command it with an ironed mind,
new constitution, redder better truths,

with domination we may praise,
if you could best the worst of it, and fast,

the inward country of your self,
where no flag slumps, no bygone anthem blares,

republic you have yet to lead
from spineless fights to kinder rightful might

ascending to the yields of peace:
a nation greatened by just sovereignty.

END OF POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

My submission for #vss365 #orbital theme "Orbital Mechanics" ALT text in image + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1896197... (silly background done in GIMP) #poetrycommunity #poetry #poem © me 2026 #space #worlds #perspectives #aliens #unity @vss365hq.bsky.social @daniellestejust.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Orbital Mechanics

THE POEM:

Around one light
of life and time
our tilting planets
orbit, spin.

We've science, arts,
philosophies,
traditions, cultures,
histories,

and we’ve got rockets,
travel plans,
astronomers,
space telescopes,
more worlds of cause
to learn and love
than dub each other
aliens.

.THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

My poem A Sorting Out I submitted it to a William Carlos Williams ("A Sort of Song") themed poetry challenge. I hope you enjoy what I tried to do here vs. what WCW did with his classic poem. ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1895216... #poetry #poems #nature #animals #survival #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
A Sorting Out

THE POEM:
It's
neither
famished fox
nor
staggered
snowshoe hare
waiting
(shaking
(gasping
(gaping
with (breakneck (heartbeats)))))
for
the tremendous split-second to burst
from
the fir's asylum of snow-laden branches
toward breathless survival;
whatever
hesitates,
it's more life-and-death than
any metaphor conceives to wheeze...

.THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

"February 18, 2026" My poem honoring my mother-in-law Amy. Amy just passed away on Ash Wednesday. May she rest in peace.🌹♥️🙏 My poem also considers Dylan Thomas' famous poem: poets.org/poem/do-not-... #poetry #poems #mothers #parents #grief #death #strength #peace #heaven #inspirational #love

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
February 18, 2026
(For Amy, with All Due Respect
to Dylan Thomas)

THE POEM:
You sparred through countless bouts of "final nights"
and proved (despite your 90 years) you could
contend with sunsets for more restful days.

You fought brigades of pain, your failing heart,
embattled nerves (and knees and veins) to stand
your ground, assert your terms, your spirit's rights.

You met mortality head on, not as
a cornered boxer knocking shadows back
with flailing jabs, but as a champion,

aware we're dared to best our lesser selves,
slug fears, pound doubts with hard unflinching truths,
then leave these rings for sweeter things, like peace,
small victories of dozing off at will
and knowing no sleep ever spells The End.

Dawn offers more than time or mist in flight,
or one more noon to mend a disconnect;
it may bring bells to spare us needless rounds
of getting sucker-punched by greed or pride
or walloped by deceit or self-defeat.

I'd hope the wise among us might concede
it never meant A Title Match, this life,
and prizes higher than a canvassed sky
provoke our souls to love—not fight—that height
where grief meets healing in the weightless light.

.THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

My Valentine's Day poem for my wife Sandra. 💕 "To My Extraordinary Valentine" ❤️ ALT text in image + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1894000... #poetry #poems #love #couples #husbands #wives #inspirational #valentine #valentinesday #romance #romantic #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
To My Extraordinary Valentine

THE POEM:
If I'm a lung,
you're oxygen
sustaining me with every breath.

While I'm your prism,
you're my light,
revealing more than eyes will know.

But when I'm milkweed,
butterfly,
togetherness brings flourishing.

And if I'm ocean,
you're my Moon
inspiring tides to rise with life.

Where I'm a comet,
your my Sun:
our dancing dazzles galaxies.

I could go on:
you're rocket fuel
that frees us from Earth's gravity.

Or: you're the magnet
to my compass,
leading me from aimless ways.

Or: you're the proof
time's been a lie,
because this kiss is timelessness.

Or: if I'm words,
you're poetry,
creating beauty through new truths.

Or: you're my faith,
if I'm a church,
such that I trust love is divine.

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

My poem "Receiver" indulging in an extended analog radio metaphor. Hope you enjoy it. 🎶📻🎵 ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1893695... #poetry #poems #radios #music #songs #sadness #joy #bliss #motivational #inspiration #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Receiver

THE POEM:
Elusive, it's true, but I do know it's to be found,
that heartening song you really ought to hear
instead of all these requiems on repeat.
Somehow I've found it at the worst of times,

whispering, whimpering, blistered with static,
trampled by zombies with mouthfuls of shards,
dazed by stations mixing disfigured strains
with injured lyrics bleeding over frequencies.

I swear it's out there somewhere for you.

There've been days I've dialed it in by chance
or by angling an antenna again and again
or setting the radio closer to a window
or situating it upstairs, in another room.

Don't worry, I won't karaoke it!
Besides, I'll be remembering it very differently:
acoustical calm softly rocked by guitars with this
glistening chorus of angels fading to black.

It's sincere, difficult at bits, but upbeat to me.

How can you recognize it through the noise
or tease it out of the shifty dissonance?
It could be disco, salsa, reggae, trance,
baroque, the blues, free jazz, a rhapsody.

How should I say which music sings to you?
What stirs your legs with irrepressible dance?
What hoists your spirits over the low clouds
or rallies your heart against a total standstill?

Whatever it is, I hope you'll soon tune into it.

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

"Eurydice's Epilogue at the Last Look" my poem inspired by Eurydice & Orpheus myth: Orpheus can save Eurydice from Hades if he doesn't look back. He doubts, looks. She falls. This poem muses on Eurydice's final thoughts during her descent. allpoetry.com/poem/1893329... #poetry #poems #mythology

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Eurydice's Epilogue at the Last Look

THE POEM:
Uncertainty?

Averting eyes?

Tell Love submit?!

Turn back?! Away?!

When treasuring
owes everything?!

Resistance?

Dance at this Abyss!!

We'll risk infinities
for this glimpse!!!

How could we
and
how couldn't we?!

Obey Death?!

NEVER!!!!

EYES TO MINE!!!!!

ADORE ME!!!!!!
IRREVOCABLY!!!!!!!

. THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

My revised poem "33 Years, 2 Aprils, 2 Graves, 1 Love" on my mom and dad being buried apart in time/place in the same cemetery They passed in April but in different years (1987, 2020) 💙💜 ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1892681... #poetry #poems #grief #parents #death #love #soulmates

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
33 Years, 2 Aprils, 2 Graves, 1 Love

THE POEM:

In April 87, on the third,
they lowered my father's casket in
the leafy field that still sways
behind Saint Joseph's church.

In 33 years, in April, on the eighth,
my mother's coffin sunk into
the emerald graveyard turf that wakes
behind Saint Joseph's church.

Now, long before my father passed away,
my mother said she had it arranged
to rest beside him, set right there,
I never questioned that.

Yet, when her final week arrived, I called
an office at the church, and heard
somebody say there was no plot.
I had to buy her plot.

I used to wonder, whether it was left or else
(however it was she could have turned)
how lost she might have been to find
her husband nowhere near.

She wasn't buried all that far from him,
about a hundred feet away,
which is... how much, in spirit terms?
Why should they sleep?

Why would a last breath ever spell an end
to ageless moments, sacred vows?
Devotion shrugs at death's mirage.
I know my parents dance.

They’re teaching me no tomb holds back a soul
from unity, and love forsakes mistakes,
and dates and place to wake in nameless light
—a grace of godliness.

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

Photos of my parents' tombstones. The first one (on top) is my father's, and the second one is my mother's.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

My #poem for #BlueSkyPoetry 2/2/26 theme #undercurrents "What Comes to Light Tonight?" Alt text + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1891592... #poetry #poem © me 2026 #BSPP50 @blueskypoetry.bsky.social

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:"
What Comes to Light Tonight?

THE POEM:
Below the shown composure
of the sea,

slow undercurrents
goading low tumult,

commotion flowing, foaming
opening...

but why? A tidal wave?
A seismic shift?

Or Davy Jones?
Atlantis coming back?

Leviathan?
A huge truth surfacing?

.THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

My poem "Devotional Nostalgia" submitted to a 30-word poetry challenge ALT text + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1891237... #poetry #poems #prayers #praying #religion #spirituality #faith #nostalgia

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Devotional Nostalgia

THE POEM:
I miss when prayers
were giving thanks,

cute Christmas wishes,

asks for insights,
courage, strength,

not

pleas for peace,
civility,

autonomy,
more tolerance,

truth, decency,
morality,

or interventions
from above.

.THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

My poem "To a Bay Window" submitted to a window-themed poetry challenge. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading. ALT text + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1890850... #poetry #poems #windows #perspectives #gratitude #insights #awareness #openmindedness #mindfulness #inspirational #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
To a Bay Window

THE POEM:
Your openness, your patient charity...
all gifts I welcome, friend, now that I'm at
your sill again with questioned memories
and sometimes dreams like dragonflies that eye
these country scenes you frame like painted art.

I haven't thanked you well enough for this,
especially around mid-March, when you'll
remind me winter's letting go of loss.
Then June's new music full of wind and wings!
And fall's reviving flights of phoenix hues!

Through you, I see we ought to survey earth,
our souls, search outside outworn vantage points
to learn what different heights and angles teach.
Perspective is the best gift you can give,
now I've seen many other ways to live!

. THE END OF THE POEM.
Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

My poem Psychomachian on the ongoing "soul war" for and in minds all over. It's partly inspired by Prudentius' ancient poem Psychomachia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychom... ALT text + link: allpoetry.com/poem/1890075... #poetry #poems #souls #goodvsevil #spirituality #wars #awareness #minds #peace

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Psychomachian

THE POEM:
Believe there will be finer times
when chilling possibilities
are mostly fictions scarcely read
in warmer small-town living rooms,
where TVs never bleed out news
and dreaming heals easily
along with more belonging songs.

Believe there climbs a higher hill
untouched by such destructive "love"
that worshiped as the heretic
no longer living by the word
because the lie became its truth,
chaos its rule, fool's gold its wealth,
inequity its principle.

That's how soul wars snuck up on us:
so stealthily as decadence
disguised as riling righteousness
—so "good" so many swore by it,
its dogma marking darkness light,
disharmony harmonious,
all crucifixions beautiful.

With flashbang headlines quaking faith
and splintered pillars faltering,
foundations cracked, no longer kept
facades and constitutions firm
on top of every dithering
and trembling and dissembling
and aftershocks of aftershocks.

With winning losing, virtue vice,
confusion oozed unfought through thought.
Deceit invaded reigns and gains
to pledge allegiance to the sin
that twists illicit into fit,
pollution into oxygen,
demonic into godliness.

Then "strength" made weakness, honor shame,
prosperity our poverty
—yet questions meant deliverance
once we could leave our lesser selves,
return our search toward something more
than worldliness, that great disgrace.
That's how we started saving souls.

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

My poem A Knights Progress (spanning 2 columns) partly inspired by the Knight's Tour chess idea en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight%... ALT text + text link allpoetry.com/poem/1888866... #poetry #poem #chess #metaphors #suffering #progress #unity #peace Image: Life Is Not a Game © 2005 Robert J. Tiess

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
A Knight's Progress

THE POEM:
How could I visit every square
around this boundless checkered board
that's running out of sight and time?

I've learned the rules, moved nobly on,
respecting measures, turn by turn,
yet I see pieces leaping wrong.

No rook should glide diagonal.
Now random knights ride anywhere?
Since when are kings bulldozing pawns?

Break free from dead chess metaphors
which trick us into "wins" or "loss"
and treat like life a battle zone.

Among the trillion intervals
between our charge and charred extremes
old ranks and files vanish fast.

Ignore false talk of royalty:
maneuvers need humility,
not crowns or jewels or pageantry.

Let's not pretend we're enemies
invested in these tournaments
competing for a day of praise.

I think you're wanting progress too
beyond the cardboard armor, shields,
these backdrop castles, paper swords.

Forget crass gambits, sad pursuits,
the made-up banners, plastic grails.
The stalemate was no strategy.

Let's check and best ourselves instead
and make a nation love may reign
—in all directions—glorious!

Or would you be "victorious"
and game away so hatefully?
Know love is my Excalibur.

.END OF POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2026

Image credit:
Life Is Not a Game
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2005

Image description: on a black and red chess board there are human-looking chess pieces looking on with concern and sadness at one of their own fallen pieces who is disappearing into the board. One chess piece near the top center of the image looks up toward perhaps the player with a facial expression that may suggest bewilderment or simply a question of why such suffering is taking place.

050

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

1/2 Let us never forget the warmth and rays of hope we can extend into the existence of others. We can become beacons in dark hours, sources of strength, knowledge, peace, bringing comforting and optimistic glows to needed truths with honest loving clarity. #light #knowledge #truth #peace #hope

Image credit:

The Radiance of Stars Is within You
by Robert J. Tiess
© Copyright 2015

Description: the image is a portrait of an otherworldly being that's somewhat human in appearance. Beams of light emanate from the being's head. The being wears a flowing robe and a necklace bearing a glowing medallion. Behind, there are stars and maybe planets varying in size and brightness. The being smiles with eye closed and seems to be contemplating something (life? the universe? love?) joyfully and with incredible warmth.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

My poem Nova Lux (paired here with a 3D sculpting project of mine from 2007). Nova Lux is Latin for New Light. Why Latin? I think it fits with the "old becoming new again" spirit of this poem. Happy New Year! #poetry #poem #winter #snow #happiness #renewal #rebirth #hope #joy #newyear #renewal

Image credit:
Winter's Givings
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2007

Alt text description: three polar bears (one small, one medium, one large) watch snowflakes descend. The polar bears seem entranced if not amused. The snowflakes are large, richly geometrical, and highly stylized. There is snow throughout the picture and a hint of stars in the background. It's an enchanted sort of image, not photorealistic, one focusing mostly on the natural beauty and magic of winter.

Nova Lux

Why wait for spring's revival when
rebirth may come mid-winter—now!

Broke moments cry for restoration,
resurrecting Hopefulness.

Dawn, you need not wait for Night.
The age of Light dwells outside time.

Come, reawaken, Dreams of Peace!
Be Optimistic Lazarus!

We'll marvel at the simplest things,
crawl back to life with newborn eyes!

Let stars and snowflakes fascinate!
Familiar Things, astonish us!

And let's go meet our former selves
and see how strange we feigned back then.

Revisiting all starting points!
Rejuvenescence! Youth resumes!

Within this sprightly wilder light,
today may be our renaissance!

.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

No need to wait for Valentine's Day. Let's replenish hearts with love today. Love being alive. Love being yourself. Love more... the Earth... the Moon... the universe! Love more! Love love! See love is divine. Believe in its powers. Know you are loved! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #poetry #love #inspirational

Image credit:
Let Your Heart Overflow with Love
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2011

Alt text description: the image is filled with traditional simple symbols of hearts reaching out in all directions. There are smaller hearts within larger hearts, brighter hearts among darker hearts. Many hearts are overlapping, and most are interconnected. The image overflows with love as hearts go past the margins of the image, perhaps into infinity or eternity.

130

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

My poem "Landscape Painting Meditations" on art and painting as healing, mind-clearing, soul-renewing... ALT text + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1885158... #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #poems #art #painting #healing #selfcare #selfhelp #peace #meditation

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Landscape Painting Meditations

.THE POEM:

No stony summits grating sky.
No heavens drenched in heavy grays.

Today, I'm painting clarity,
azure softness, snowy heights,

and water slowed to mirroring
ethereal serenity,

an art of healing, comforting,
forgiving, living for the light,

with calmness reaching everybody,
earth at peace with everything.

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

My poem "Your Alexandria" on someone hoping to understand another (includes a reference to the Library of Alexandria: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library...) Hope you enjoy this. ALT text in image + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1884857... #poetry #poems #understanding #library #libraries #metaphors

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Your Alexandria

THE POEM:
How many aisles, high and deep
with volumes of uncommon knowledge,
stock your mind's bright library?

What might I find in that fine light?
New truths? Perspectives? Lessons? Dreams?
Experiences? Histories?

Imagination hesitates,
but I've my theories, plus a hunch
there's plenty esoterica:

I picture parchment, cobwebbed scrolls,
if read (and ever understood),
unlocking cosmic scholarship,

part arcane wisdom figured lost
in flaming Alexandria,
then something of eleven worlds,

each humbling me with untold shelves,
which verse me in my nescience
yet urge me to skim all I can,

if I could stay past closing time,
leave one lamp lit, read for an hour,
ten minutes, just one chapter. Please.

. THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I wish all my friends, fans, colleagues, and fellow poets and artists a peaceful and heartening holiday. I'm grateful for each of you. I hope 2026 brings you the lasting joy, fulfillment, and serenity you deserve. 💙 Robert #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #christmas #holidays

The Ephemeral Aesthetics of Snowflakes by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2014. The image features a large bright multi-faceted and iridescent snowflake that seems like it could very well be the star on top of a giant Christmas tree. Smaller snowflakes appear in the background.

020

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

My poem "Remontant" on re-discovering earth's wonders. The title (blooming more than once) connects with the poem's speaker reawakening to nature's inspirations. 🌸 ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1884468... #poetry #poems #nature #flowers #trees #plants #earth #awareness #appreciation

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Remontant

.THE POEM:

Why now, much closer than before, do I
trace furrows, scales, and search for finer lines
in barks of poplar, maple, pine, and oak?

Why am I eavesdropping on all these crows,
or listening for finches, sparrows, larks,
or waiting lakeside for returning geese?

I've sensed and loved extraordinary things,
the unseen owls, hid lotuses in mud,
sequoia giants, monarchs, banyan trees.

My eyes, more like the canyons, grander, part
on earth I've scanned but barely scratched as deep.
Fresh clarity brings urgent light to life!

Hydrangeas, were you as full as this?
Wisteria! You've beautified my years!
How many morning glories did I miss?

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

My #poem "Snow Globe Knowings" paralleled here with an older 3D art project of mine. Alt text in both images + poem text link: allpoetry.com/poem/1884163... Wishing all of you a sweet and peaceful holiday.🎀 #poetry #winter #snow #snowglobes #snowman #confirmationbias #reality #truth #metaphors

Image credit:
Microcosm
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2007

Alt text description: there is a traditionally-arrayed snowman (complete with a hat and a carrot nose) inside a snow globe. inside, he is accompanied by the glitter of fake snow suspended in water, several candy canes, and some indications of snow at his feet. The snow globe base is fairly ornate with little decorations of gold dots, latticework, and circles of green and red. Outside of the snow globe there are large snow flakes falling as the snowman seems to look at them with perhaps a wishful or wistful expression.

A NOTE ABOUT THE POEM:
THE TEXT OF THIS POEM IS CENTERED, AND THERE ARE THREE PROGRESSIVELY LARGER STANZAS THAT ARE ROUGHLY-ROUND, IN KEEPING WITH THE "SNOW GLOBE" AND "GLASS SPHERE" IMAGERY OF THE POEM.

THE TITLE POEM IS:
SNOW GLOBE KNOWINGS.

THIS IS THE POEM:

Snow Globe
Knowings

Inside,
it's winter
all year
round,

until

somebody quakes
your world; then spinning
glitter glistens with a Christmas
wishful stardust light that
shimmers in this
liquid magic

(amniotic,

if you're borne by
colder bolder sober truths of
what a globe contains, restrains,
and how glass can distort reports
of goings-on outside what lies
past bleary spheres

of biased eyes)

.THE END OF THE POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

My #poem... . THE GLOW OF KNOWING Past caverns and valleys, through bleak thoroughfares, days layered in fog or nights robbed of dawn, and clearings eclipsed by shadows and shambles, let's lift up lanterns, send forth more light, illuminate what our ignorance hid. . #poetry #light © me 2025

Image credit:
Fearless through the Shadow Valley
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2016

Alt text description: A person holding a lantern illuminates a valley full of shadows. The person approaches us, the viewers. The valley sides are dark, but the small lantern casts strong light. And this is appropriate, as this image draws inspiration directly from the Biblical book of Psalms 23 ("Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;").

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Image credit: Cancelling the Noise by Robert J. Tiess © 2014 ALT text Description: A calm lady in pink wears bright headphones, listens to music. Behind her, wild angled clusters of circles & rectangles represent the noise "cancelled" by what she hears. www.artofinterpretation.com/images2/wc56...

Image credit:

Cancelling the Noise
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright © 2014.
Image Description: A woman with dark hair and dressed in shades of pink listening to music. Behind her are angled geometrical clusters of circles and rectangles suggesting the noise mentioned in the title of this image.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Individuals. Iconoclasts. Inquirers. Innovators. Poetry is nothing without such persons. Conformity, status quo, limits, or cowardice won't advance poetry. Because so many poets stay true to themselves, their subjects, and their craft, poetry can flourish and still evolve. #poetry #individuality

Image Credit: "One of the Many Advantages of Being Different" by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright © 2009.

This image features a giant red U-shaped magnet standing on its magnetic tips on a table. Around each of its two magnetic tips are dozens of small metal paperclips stuck to it. There is a larger blue paperclip seemingly unaffected by the magnet, perhaps because it is not made of metal. Whatever the case, it's in its own space and not caught up in the inescapable magnetic attractions the other paperclips are inextricably experiencing.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

In places flooded with artificial glows, attempts to shed real light can be unseen, discounted, or rejected. But we mustn't give up! Illuminate! Clarify! Enlighten! #poetry #writing #insights Image: Those in the Very Bright Room Tend to Scorn or Mock Any Notion of a Lamp Robert J. Tiess © 2008

Image credit: "Those in the Very Bright Room Tend to Scorn or Mock Any Notion of a Lamp" by Robert J. Tiess © 2008. The image depicts a corner of very bright room shown at an angle. Lying on the floor is a table lamp that has been toppled and unplugged.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

My poem "Acoustic Renewals" something I submitted to a 16-word poetry challenge (4 lines, 4 words per line). Thank you for reading. ALT text in image + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1881502... #poetry #poem #music #guitars #musicians #renewal #inspirational #rejuvenation #rebirth

THE TITLE OF THE POEM:
Acoustic Renewals

THE POEM:

arthritic fingers forgotten guitar

resurfacing burnishing uncoiling strings

loving recovery glorious songfulness

salvaging memories rescuing soul

THE END OF THE POEM:

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright © 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Poems can be "Ecclesiastes 3"-ish as in the Biblical chapter famous for saying "To everything there is a season" (or "a time for everything") and then listing "a time to" be born, die, heal, plant, weep, laugh, mourn, dance... Poems can root you in instants, bring you back, move you on. #poetry

Image: A Time to Dance by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2008. The nearly abstract image depicts a very lively dancer in shades of bright yellow. Clothing fabric seems to be flowing and suggesting sweeping movements, turns, and velocity. There are abstract fragments surrounding the dancer that may add to the sense of the motion or the turning blurring world around the dancer.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Time works differently in poems. There's internal rhythms, meters, pacing. Meditations can unfold from moments to entire lifetimes. How often I've reread poems over decades only for them to gain new meaning, impact, and relevance! Ultimately the reader controls time flow in poems. #poetry #time

Image: Time Past by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2013. The image shows an elaborate metallic clock with four Roman numerals (12, 3, 6, 9) and other marks indicating hours. Around the clock are swirling shapes emerging from and entangling the clock. Shadows interplay with reflections. There are hints of concentric circles further out and around the clock. At once, it seems to be a meeting of the abstract and the concrete, at least in this depicted instant.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Poems can hold moments, zeitgeist, histories, and they can preserve eternal truths. "Ancient" poems may resonate for centuries or longer. Poetic experiences can dwell within and beyond chronology. Some poems "of the moment" can become timeless. Poetry obeys no clocks or calendars. #poetry #time

Image: The Moments in Our Hours by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2017. The image shows a large metallic thick circle on a wall with many smaller clock-like circles clustered and layered in the center of it. The hands of the smaller clocks point in all directions. There is the hint of carpet below bordered by a basic wood baseboard. The carpet is red. The upper part of the image is golden, nearly monotone. The clocks and the greater circle containing them are reflective.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

A few well-chosen words can inspire minds, change lives, or even influence the course of history. Exaggeration? No! Read about Nelson Mandela and the poem Invictus: poets.org/nelson-mande... Poems can be mighty at any time! Underestimate no poem or poet! #poetry #power #poets #writing #poems

Image credit:

"Fear Not Winning Through Peace"
by Robert J. Tiess
Copyright 2014.

The image shows someone meditating peacefully and meditating. Beams of light or power emanate from the individual as gigantic menacing robots appear to be shaken or overcome by the energy.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

I study poetry and literature through many frames of mind. Through my Phoenix frame, I see topics, styles, and other literary phenomena fade yet be reborn like the mythic bird: new ideas, voices, words sparking renaissance, generational transformations, and the next ascent. #poetry #literature

Image: After the Phoenix Falls, It Must by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2009. A partially abstract and highly geometric representation of a firey mythical Phoenix bird ascending with glowing red and yellow wings. It is arising from what might be ashes of its former self.

140

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Observing and abstracting. Analyzing aspects. Fathoming fragments, facets of things. Dissecting experiences remade as words. Pondering and representing multiple perspectives. Revealing anew. Poets and artists share much in common. e.g. Cubists en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism #poetry #poets #art

Image Acoustic Guitar Solo by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2018. The light golden brown image displays an acoustic guitar dissecting into many different pieces depicted at various angles. The sound hole of the guitar is positioned centrally in the image.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

In poems, words are beginnings: the tips of much larger icebergs. As we dive deeper into sounds, structures, images, ideas, metaphors, meanings, we see, return with wonder, reflect, interpret, and we learn. Poetry makes us think beyond apparent surfaces. #poetry #words #thinking #meditation

Image: Iceberg of Understanding by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2007. The image shows an iceberg mostly submerged in the sea. Only the bright icy tip of the iceberg is revealed. A seagull sits at the top of the tip. Other seagulls fly around. Behind is a soft and calm sky. Below the water, the bulk of the large iceberg (which slightly resembles a face) is surrounded by darker waters and silhouettes cast by a school of fish.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Everything written is a chance taken: words chosen, arranged; their meanings, impacts. Will they be received? Understood? Appreciated? Remembered? Writers take leaps of faith, risking criticism, rejection, and more just to be heard. Or they let fear silence them. #poetry #writing #poets #writers

Image: "Taking a Leap of Faith" by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2007. The image shows a skier leaping from a snowy high point. The skier is dressed in orange and wearing blue-striped skis. He is holding ski poles, and he is also wearing a helmet and goggles. There is a patch of blue sky behind the skier. The snow looks heavy with hints of rocks beneath it, suggesting an element of danger as the skier lunges into the openness and down towards more challenging passages of snow and rocks.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

1/5 Libraries have always mattered, and they always will. Libraries always supported and spread democracy. That must and will continue to happen. Libraries advocate for everyone and inspire more people daily. #library #libraries #freedom #democracy #liberty #education #librarians #books

A Middletown Thrall Library Information Awareness G u i d e:
Why Libraries Matter
A Concise Overview of What Public Libraries Do
Healthy public libraries are important to democratic societies because they
allow everyone, regardless of income, to make informed decisions about
their government, their health, their education, and their consumption of
goods.
Democracy only truly exists and thrives as long as there is equitable access
to all information in all formats. This is one of many reasons why public
libraries are essential to modern civilization and ultimately the future of every
person.
Excellent public libraries also allow anyone, regardless of income, to
educate themselves. This gives everyone an opportunity to achieve
personal and occupational success. Education empowers you to do and
understand more.
The public library is a critical component of our public education system.
Libraries are sometimes called “The People’s University.” While students
and teachers benefit greatly from libraries, those who cannot afford the
escalating costs of education may also take advantage of our resources.
Libraries also provide people with access to information technologies, such
as research databases, electronic books, word processors, and other data
on the World Wide Web. Thrall also works every week to bring quality
Internet-based resources to your attention through our website
(www.thrall.org). Many people would have no access to the Internet if they
did not have a public library to visit.
Unlike search engines, which are increasingly commercial and plagued by
irrelevant results or questionable content, public libraries enjoy helping you
find the best information available wherever it is. We are not motivated by
profit: your information needs motivate us, and we enjoy helping you excel!

BlueSky has limited the ALT text here. Please see the PDF link in the post for the rest of the text in this document. Thank you.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

It's my constant wish that poets and writers will have the freedom, courage, and clarity to write as they wish. It's also my hope they will want to learn more about the many vital aspects of their craft: self-educating so to know how to revolutionize. #poetry #poets #writing #writers #education

Image: Renaissance, Reason, Revolution, Reverie by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2017. A series of images in four sections, stating from the top: 1. An abstract series of wavering blue yellow cyan and gold lines escaping definition. 2. A head appearing to be at rest between alternating textural patterns of swirling shapes and concentric rectangles and smaller circles. 3. A 3D hollow cube s surrounded by angled circles and smaller circles to the right. On either side there are buttresses. 4. A series of five classic Greek columns occur on the right and left sides of this section of the image. In the center of this section are three concentric shells. The topmost and smallest shell appears to have a pearl floating about it.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

As a poet and a person, I try to learn day by day. I want to share more of those personal educations. Based on the little I do know, I can say #humility and #empathy are more empowering and essential than most people realize. I hope you agree. #poetry #experience #lessons #life #learning #advice

In my experience...
humility strengthens.
Caring is courageous.
Mindfulness matters.
Hope needs honesty.
Imagination is indispensable.
Truth illuminates.
Equality is essential.
Freedom is fearless.
Respect is rudimentary.
Love is unconditional.
Empathy empowers.
Peace is mighty.
Kindness is the key.

____________________________________________________
Robert J. Tiess 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

I support the right of all poets and writers to write as they want, as they will, as they must. Your paths are yours, friends! #poetry #poetrycommunity #poets #writingcommunity #writer #writerslife #writers #writing #advice #freedom #creativity #journey #experience #insights #ideas #individuality

I love to share poetry insights,
information, and experiences.
Drawing from 40+ years
of writing/reading poetry + lit/crit studies
and a library career of over 30 years,
I have some ideas and constructive advice
to offer anyone welcoming my thoughts.

What I'll NOT DO
is tell you how to write.

Your path is yours.

__________________________________________________
Robert J. Tiess 2025

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

1/2 Juxtaposition can be powerful in poetry and other writing. It's about placing different things near each other in a text. Why? Reasons include... + exploring opposites, parallels + comparing or distinguishing things + playing upon contradictions + creating paradoxes, irony, tension #poetry

Image: "A Couple of Codependencies" by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2007. The image features an open black umbrella set down on the floor. The top of the umbrella faces the audience. A closed plastic water full of water is situated next to the umbrella. In the background there are diagonal stripes.

120

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

My cardinal poem originally submitted to a "WordKu" (5/7/5 words) challenge. I paired it here with a 2013 BlenderArtists Weekend Challenge vector-style project of mine: blenderartists.org/t/challenge-... ALT text + poem link: allpoetry.com/poem/1820415... #poetry #poem #birds #winter #snow #art

The image features stylized trees and scattered snowflakes of varying sizes. Poised on one of the branches is a red cardinal bird. The text at the top of the image contains the following words:

Swift flares of crimson sweeps
over ghosted canvases left by fallen snow:
the cardinal's art of life.

END OF POEM.

Poem by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2025. Image by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2013.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

1/2 Poetry is the opposite of indoctrination. Indoctrinators drill people to accept things without further question or thought. Poetry promotes... contemplation, broad-mindedness, wonder, feelings, discovery, interpretation, creativity, individuality, and much more! #poetry #freedom #mindfulness

Image: "Indoctrination" by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2007.
The metallic image features a head with closed eyes. It is surrounded by sharp angular and concentric metal constraints. A heavy metal crown sits on the head. The person appears to be wholly and inextricably encased in this golden metal contraption. Almost noting other than the face of the individual is revealed within this severely limiting and steadfast environment. For all the gold here, there are many shadows and a sense of darkness throughout.

120

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

For #vss365 #aphotic . DESPITE NO LIGHT "Aphotic" (as in sea) can mean where sunrays sink and darkness starts, but deeper beings see it's where most lives survive by their own light. . #poetry #poem © me 2025 #bioluminescence #light #ocean #sea #fish @vss365hq.bsky.social @sanjar.bsky.social

Image "Deep Sea Lights"
by Robert J. Tiess,
Copyright 2013. The image features deep sea creatures resembling jellyfish which are floating together and glowing with their own bioluminescent light.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Poems can work like paintings, portraits, landscapes, windows, photos: through them, we meet details of larger things not wholly visible or appreciable unless we think outside "picture frames" and move beyond partial views to pursue truths past portrayals or what seems apparent to us. #poetry #art

Image: The Picture Frame, by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2007. A gold series of ornately geometry and concentric frames within frames. A sphere with abstract tendrils appears to be emerging from--and then escaping--these frames, as if the art refuses to be constrained within the limits of the picture frame.

120

Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Poems hold mirrors to the world, reflecting things, us, etc Mirror physics also pertain to this witnessing: viewpoints, angles, locations, distances, light... Such factors can vary how poems reveal or get interpreted. One poem can show many things to readers at different points in life! #poetry

Image ("How Do Mirrors See Themselves?" by Robert J. Tiess Copyright 2011). The image features two mirrors. One mirror is lying flat on a reflective surface which is covered in tiny bits of another broken mirror. Another mirror, set upright on this surface, is angled down so as to give the appearance it is looking at the mirror on the reflective surface. The image is in black and white. The upright mirror appears to be made of metal, while the other mirror lying down might be plastic. The background is dark and also partly reflective.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Poetry is democracy: we're free to read, express and interpret as we will. Poetry empowers minds to explore new views past old perceptions. It compels us to go beyond what we've known and been shown. No one has the final say. #poetry #freedom #liberty Image: The Emperor's New Vision © 2006 RJT

The image features an emperor wearing an elaborate mask and crown of gold that conceals his fact. The mask and crown has small symmetrical projections flowing outward. The emperor's hands are open, held out, palm-sides upward. Over his hands float what appear to be eyes also encased in elaborately concentric and stylized gold meshes with thin projections emanating in all directions, much like his mask and crown. The title of this image is "The Emperor's New Vision, or Look, The Emperor Has No Eyes." The image was created by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2006.

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Robert J. Tiess @robertjtiess.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

When asked why I spent so much of my life on poetry, I like to point out that, among other things, poetry is an all-inclusive space where I can contemplate, connect, and create while standing at the crossroads of knowledge, art, reality, eternity, and everything before and beyond. #poetry #poets

An image: ENLIGHTENMENT by Robert J. Tiess, Copyright 2009. A person appears to be blissfully floating at the intersection of Yin and Yang in space. There are flowing and swirling lines, flowing fabric, and stars in the background.

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