Raising the wind

by Andy Oram

Could you breathe upon paper what lives in you so full, so warm, so that it would be the mirror of your soul, as your soul is the mirror of the unending God!

—Goethe

Introduction to my poems

In place of a printed book, which would not represent all my work accurately, you can read here up to 30 of my most popular and well-received poems. Look for the ☜ and ☞ symbols at the bottom of each poem.

Series

• City series

• Embodied series

• Language and expression series

  • Poetry series

    • Fellow poets series

  • Music series

  • Art series

• Spirituality and religion series

  • Jewish series

  • Christian series

  • Evocative places series

  • I Ching series

• Social protest series

• Mortality series

  • COVID-19 pandemic series

• Science series

• Recollections series

• Mental state series

• Light series

• Mythology series

• Relationships series

  • Fellow poets series

• Reflections on history series

• Poems inspired by place

  • Middle East series

• Everyday scenes

• Times of the year

  • Seasons

    • Spring

    • Summer

    • Autumn

    • Winter

  • Festivals

• Wry humor

• Miscellaneous poems

Poems

• City series

  • Urban portrait (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 408)

  • The daylight lingers in the summer till repose (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 412)

  • Street cred (published in Issue 8 of RABBLE REVIEW, March 2025)

  • Dolores Heights sky (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 410)

  • Cityspans (Part 1 of this poem was published in the 2024 issue of The Sucarnochee Review)

  • Warehouses (published in the 14th edition of DASH Literary Journal in May 2021)

  • We don’t ask when that house will sell (published in issue VIII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Of old

  • A day like the others (published in the 2022 issue of Cæsura)

  • We love the café

  • Carmel shuk

  • Changes around here (published in the inaugural issue of WhimsicalPoet, February 2021)

  • Unfashionable words (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • Winter halo

  • Lawns (published in issue 5 of Poetry Leaves, 2020)

  • Mighty past (published in the anthology The Experiment Will Not Be Bound)

  • The wait at twilight

  • Application for poet laureate (published in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

  • Like a wind (published in issue 19 ofWild Roof Journal in March 2023)

• Embodied series

  • At the rehearsal (published in the Fall 2021 issue of WhimsicalPoet: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry)

  • Odalisque (published in issue XI of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Cradling (published in the October 2022 issue of The Bluebird Word)

  • Backbone (published in the Spring 2020 issue of Speckled Trout Review)

  • Palindrome (published in The RavensPerch on September 11, 2023)

  • The bounce alone (published by The Voices Project on April 2, 2020)

  • Like a wind (published in issue 19 ofWild Roof Journal in March 2023)

  • Cyan (published in issue 3 of table//FEAST, October 2024, and in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

  • Downward drift

• Language and expression series

  • Just remarking (published in issue 77 of Offcourse, June 20, 2019)

  • In an archive (published in issue 10 of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • The language we learned first (published in the Spring 2025 issue of Sucarnochee Review)

  • Legacies (published by The RavensPerch on April 4, 2025)

  • On Finding The Portable Beat Reader at the Book Rack in Arlington, Mass.

  • Do not repeat your self (published in the Spring 2020 issue of WestWard Quarterly)

  • Emanation of Narcissus (published in Dumbo Press on March 3, 2024)

  • Prodigies (published in San Pedro River Review)

  • Mimesis (published in the Autumn 2025 issue of Orbis)

  • Tense (published in issue 3 of Too Well Away Literary Journal)

  • Writing prompts to not use

  • Poetry series

    • Candor (published in issue 84 of Offcourse, March 21, 2021)

    • Ring cycle

    • Economics (published in the Fall 2021 issue of WhimsicalPoet: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry)

    • Metaverse (published in Issue #1 of Re-mediate)

    • Why write free verse?

    • Written in the key of C (published by The RavensPerch on May 25, 2024)

    • Emily Dickinson at the Coronation Café (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

    • To the editor who instructed me to cut my last stanza

    • Madrigals of war and love (published in The Decadent Review)

    • Application for poet laureate (published in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

    • Poem displayed in landscape mode

    • Juxtaposed (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

    • Farewell to my Hebrew class

    • Fellow poets series

      • Chiffonier treasures (published in July 2025 by KayTell Publishing)

      • Winter renovation

      • I have your form

      • The banquet

      • Inhaling the world

      • Splines and tangents

      • Revisioning

      • What better

      • Does every gift

      • What did you leave the apartment for? (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

      • Sacral

      • A fulcrum of thought (published in the first issue of the Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences)

      • Gifted travels

      • Sabled chimes

  • Music series

    • Ring cycle

    • The piano improvisation (Published in Planisphere Quarterly)

    • The final chord (published in issue 22 of Waterwheel Review, December 2020)

    • At the rehearsal (published in the Fall 2021 issue of WhimsicalPoet: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry)

    • Madrigals of war and love (published in The Decadent Review)

    • Patterns and riffs (published in Issue XIII of The Closed Eye Open, page 12)

    • Written in the key of C (published by The RavensPerch on May 25, 2024)

    • The musician (published by The RavensPerch on October 31, 2022)

    • The flute (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

    • Passacaglia (Published in issue 196 of the Arlington Literary Journal, April 1, 2024)

  • Art series

    • Rose window (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 413)

    • Candor (published in issue 84 of Offcourse, March 21, 2021)

    • Patterns and riffs (published in Issue XIII of The Closed Eye Open, page 12)

    • Memory box (published as one of five poems in issue #11 of Ranger magazine)

    • Odalisque (published in issue XI of the Heron Clan anthology)

    • Abiding (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

    • Collages (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

    • Artifacts

    • At the Dutch chancellery

• Spirituality and religion series

  • Dolores Heights sky (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 410)

  • Roster (published in issue VIII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • They asked me my religion (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

  • Apophis (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

  • Uncentered (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

  • Gray encounter

  • Registry of deeds

  • Sky and earth

  • Jewish series

    • Casting lots

    • The voice (published in issue 16 of SLAB Literary Magazine)

    • Migrations of a prophecy

    • Mountains

    • The day is short (published in the September 2020 issue of Orbis)

    • Rededication (published by the Jewish Climate Action Network of Massachusetts on December 16, 2025 as one of their Chanukah reflections)

    • By water (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

    • Friday afternoon piyut (published (about one-quarter of the way down the page) in volume X, number 2 of The Deronda Review)

    • Ashmedai (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

    • Blaze

    • The bright house

    • Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (published in Volume 10, issue 1 of the The Deronda Review, 2023)

    • The flute (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

    • Because there is light (published in the 2020 Wising Up Press anthology Goodness)

    • Zyklon Briefing (published in Dumbo Press on March 3, 2024)

    • Descending to the valley (published in issue 34 of Ginosko, Spring-Summer 2025)

    • Just a heart (published in Volume 10, issue 2 (near the bottom of the page) of The Deronda Review, 2025)

    • A Passover poem for mental recovery

    • On Ḥanukah

    • Farewell to my Hebrew class

    • The end (published in the Doomer Anthology in November, 2025)

  • Christian series

    • Rose window (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 413)

    • Lost passages from an epistle

    • The first church (published in issue 187 of the Arlington Literary Journal, October 15, 2023)

    • Augmented reality (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

    • After reading A Mirror for Simple Souls (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

    • After reading Dark Night of the Soul (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

    • Emanation of Narcissus (published in Dumbo Press on March 3, 2024)

    • Every spirit praise (no drum or choir) (published in issue 187 of the Arlington Literary Journal, October 15, 2023)

  • I Ching series

    • Difficulty at the beginning

    • Abysmal

    • Next rise

• Evocative places series

  • Garden of thought (published in the Red Letter Poem series; scroll down to No. 9)

  • Of old

  • The quiet hours (published in the Spring 2025 issue of The Sucarnochee Review)

  • In an archive (published in issue 10 of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Rose window (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 413)

  • Gray encounter

  • The final chord (published in issue 22 of Waterwheel Review, December 2020)

  • We love the café

  • At the Dutch chancellery

  • 5:34 (published in miller’s pond)

  • Settimane (published in issue XII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • A tour of Italy

  • Emily Dickinson at the Coronation Café (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

  • Depot in a valley (published in issue 14 of Wild Roof Journal)

  • Prow (published in Volume 27, Number 4 (Fall 2022) of Main Street Rag)

  • Cyan (published in issue 3 of table//FEAST, October 2024, and in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

  • Out here

• Social protest series

  • The voice (published in issue 16 of SLAB Literary Magazine)

  • Picking up stones (published in DASH Literary Journal, Volume 12, Spring 2019)

  • Junctions (published in issue 115 of the Arlington Literary Journal, 2019)

  • Anticipación (published in issue 115 of the Arlington Literary Journal, 2019)

  • Dispersal (published in issue 8 of Genre: Urban Arts, Summer 2019)

  • To dust (published in the Autumn 2024 issue of Orbis)

  • Remembering the evening in the yard (published in issue 77 of Offcourse, June 20, 2019)

  • Cityspans (Part 1 of this poem was published in the 2024 issue of The Sucarnochee Review)

  • Abiding (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

  • Roster (published in issue VIII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Apophis (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

  • Series convergence (published in issue 1 of Words & Whispers, September 1, 2020)

  • Slow and slow and then fast (published as one of five poems in issue #11 of Ranger magazine)

  • We’re not there yet (I hope) (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

  • Where it all ends up

  • Always been falling (published on page 93 of RABBLE REVIEW No. 9)

  • Safe word (published in the 2023 issue of The Waiting Room from Nervous Ghost Press)

  • Neocon fable, mythologized with tabloids (published in issue 8 of Main Squeeze, March 20, 2023)

  • Punch out (published in the anthology The Experiment Will Not Be Bound, 2022)

  • Mainscream (published as one of five poems in issue #11 of Ranger magazine)

  • Entry (published in Outliers, Conclave Literary Journal Book 5, 2020)

  • The ocean speaks (published in issue 5 of RABBLE REVIEW, January 2023)

  • Time, here, who, mutation (published in the Spring 2022 issue of J Journal)

  • The heavy land (published in the Spring 2022 issue of J Journal)

  • Zyklon Briefing (published in Dumbo Press on March 3, 2024)

  • The ID is not the ego (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • Martyrology (published in the Doomer Anthology in November, 2025)

  • Madrigals of war and love (published in The Decadent Review)

  • Neural net (published in Cloud Native Data Center Networking, by Dinesh G. Dutt, published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., November 2019)

  • Security position (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

  • The times (published as one of five poems in issue #11 of Ranger magazine)

  • Hard-wired

  • Future indications (published in Volume 27, Number 4 (Fall 2022) of Main Street Rag)

  • Successfully routed requests

  • Every spirit praise (no drum or choir) (published in issue 187 of the Arlington Literary Journal, October 15, 2023)

  • Mighty past (published in the anthology The Experiment Will Not Be Bound)

  • Whether it pertains to (published in the second issue of Angel Rust)

  • Spirit of rage

  • New stage (published in Nine Cloud Journal, issue 1, August 2020)

  • Forgotten (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

  • Only to continue

  • How we continue (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

  • Encomium to low wage earners (published in Written Tales, August 2, 2024)

  • Valleys

  • Odalisque (published in issue XI of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Visting Rabin Square, February 2017

  • Rededication (published by the Jewish Climate Action Network of Massachusetts on December 16, 2025 as one of their Chanukah reflections)

  • Blaze

  • Five-Year Plan

  • They built (published in issue 10 of the Tiger Moth Review, July 15, 2023)

• Mortality series

  • Knots (published in the 2020 Wising Up Press anthology Goodness)

  • Visting Rabin Square, February 2017

  • The Count of Nevers (published in Volume 29, Number 3 of Main Street Rag, Summer 2024)

  • To dust (published in the Autumn 2024 issue of Orbis)

  • COVID-19 pandemic series

    • A product of reproduction number and serial time (published as part of a series in a special issue, The Great Pause, of Press Pause Press)

    • The bounce alone (published by The Voices Project on April 2, 2020)

    • Series convergence (published in issue 1 of Words & Whispers, September 1, 2020)

    • Mute (published on June 10, 2020 by The Voices Project)

    • Frozen bread

    • Enclosure (published as part of a series in a special issue, The Great Pause, of Press Pause Press)

    • Where it all ends up

    • Frequently Asked Questions (published on page 39 in the Spring 2021 issue of Superpresent)

    • Forgotten (Published in volume 9 of Lost Lake Folk Opera literary magazine, Winter 2024)

    • A people silhouetted, deprivation glimpse (published as part of a series in a special issue, The Great Pause, of Press Pause Press)

    • Nightmare

    • Stuffed (published in an Essential anthology)

    • No longer (published in issue VIII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Downward drift

  • Stopping point (published in the 2022 issue of Cæsura)

  • Composting

  • Why we stopped in Petra (published in issue 13 of Panoply, August 2019)

  • Half life (published in the Summer 2022 issue of Vita Poetica, along with my audio recording)

  • Madrigals of war and love (published in The Decadent Review)

  • In the shadow of abundance (published in the Winter 2020 issue of The Courtship of Winds)

  • We don’t ask when that house will sell (published in issue VIII of the Heron Clan anthology)

  • Mighty past (published in the anthology The Experiment Will Not Be Bound)

  • Final century

  • Candor (published in issue 84 of Offcourse, March 21, 2021)

  • The voice (published in issue 16 of SLAB Literary Magazine)

  • The day is short (published in the September 2020 issue of Orbis)

  • Blaze

  • The end (published in the Doomer Anthology in November, 2025)

  • The ocean speaks (published in issue 5 of RABBLE REVIEW, January 2023)

  • Time, here, who, mutation (published in the Spring 2022 issue of J Journal)

  • Valleys

  • Just a heart (published in Volume 10, issue 2 (near the bottom of the page) of The Deronda Review, 2025)

  • Registry of deeds

• Science series

  • Palindrome (published in The RavensPerch on September 11, 2023)

  • Abacus

  • Incandescent (published in issue 2 of table//FEAST, March 2023)

  • A product of reproduction number and serial time (published as part of a series in a special issue, The Great Pause, of Press Pause Press)

  • Series convergence (published in issue 1 of Words & Whispers, September 1, 2020)

  • Executive function

  • Flows (published in issue 1 of forgotten maps zine, Spring 2025)

  • A course of serotonin (published in issue 2 of Waymark Literary Magazine)

  • The ocean speaks (published in issue 5 of RABBLE REVIEW, January 2023)

  • The ID is not the ego (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • Neural net (published in Cloud Native Data Center Networking, by Dinesh G. Dutt, published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., November 2019)

  • The end (published in the Doomer Anthology in November, 2025)

  • Half life (published in the Summer 2022 issue of Vita Poetica, along with my audio recording)

  • To dust (published in the Autumn 2024 issue of Orbis)

  • Backbone (published in the Spring 2020 issue of Speckled Trout Review)

  • Juxtaposed (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

  • Uncentered (published as one of four poems in the Spring 2020 issue of Soul-Lit)

• Recollections series

  • Dolores Heights sky (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 410)

  • House at the shore (published in Volume 24 of Steam Ticket)

  • The boys together (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • At the Dutch chancellery

  • In the margins of a journal taken from the bottom of a trunk (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • A day at Point Reyes long ago

  • The path of darkness (published in issue 3 (Spring 2020) of The Dark Sire)

  • Cradling (published in the October 2022 issue of The Bluebird Word)

  • In place of the book review section (published in Written Tales, February 6, 2025)

  • Jumping the train (published in Cæsura volume 2025)

• Mental state series

  • Waiting out the rain (published in issue 77 of Offcourse, June 20, 2019)

  • Executive function

  • In a pool (published in issue 3 of table//FEAST, October 2024)

  • Gray encounter

  • A course of serotonin (published in issue 2 of Waymark Literary Magazine)

  • Safe word (published in the 2023 issue of The Waiting Room from Nervous Ghost Press)

  • Garden of thought (published in the Red Letter Poem series; scroll down to No. 9)

  • Augmented reality (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

  • After reading Dark Night of the Soul (published as one of six poems in issue #2 of Ranger magazine)

  • Screen memories (published in the Fall 2021 issue of Superpresent)

  • Tense (published in issue 3 of Too Well Away Literary Journal)

  • Friday afternoon piyut (published (about one-quarter of the way down the page) in volume X, number 2 of The Deronda Review)

  • Reminder (published in NOMADartx Review)

  • The daylight lingers in the summer till repose (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 412)

  • The path of darkness (published in issue 3 (Spring 2020) of The Dark Sire)

  • Racing train (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

  • Punch out (published in the anthology The Experiment Will Not Be Bound, 2022)

  • Passacaglia (Published in issue 196 of the Arlington Literary Journal, April 1, 2024)

  • Hard-wired

  • Out here

  • A Passover poem for mental recovery

  • Neural net (published in Cloud Native Data Center Networking, by Dinesh G. Dutt, published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., November 2019)

  • In place of the book review section (published in Written Tales, February 6, 2025)

  • Cyan (published in issue 3 of table//FEAST, October 2024, and in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

• Light series

  • The daylight lingers in the summer till repose (published in the Spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, page 412)

  • The day is short (published in the September 2020 issue of Orbis)

  • Winter halo

  • Bright prospects (published on September 1, 2025 in The Bluebird Word)

  • Rededication (published by the Jewish Climate Action Network of Massachusetts on December 16, 2025 as one of their Chanukah reflections)

  • Gray encounter

  • Augmented reality (published in issue #4 of Ranger magazine in 2024)

  • Artifacts

  • Extra minutes

  • Blaze

  • The bright house

  • The wait at twilight

  • Underbrush

  • Sky and earth

  • Incandescent (published in issue 2 of table//FEAST, March 2023)

  • Storm light

  • They built (published in issue 10 of the Tiger Moth Review, July 15, 2023)

  • Because there is light (published in the 2020 Wising Up Press anthology Goodness)

  • Receiving the thunderstorm (published by The RavensPerch on May 25, 2024)

  • The end (published in the Doomer Anthology in November, 2025)

  • The path of darkness (published in issue 3 (Spring 2020) of The Dark Sire)

  • Lengthening light

  • Incoming light

  • Close call

  • Of old

  • The quiet hours (published in The Sucarnochee Review)

  • Cyan (published in issue 3 of table//FEAST, October 2024, and in The Silver Note: Poets of Arlington, Massachusetts)

  • Out here

• Mythology series

• Ring cycle

• Ashmedai (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)

• Apophis (to be published in issue #2 of Ascendency)