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    The Imperfect Document
    The Imperfect Document
    The Imperfect Document
    Ebook100 pages25 minutes

    The Imperfect Document

    By Kevin J. O'Conner

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    About this ebook

    The Imperfect Document is the third collection of poems by Kevin J. O'Conner, with subjects ranging from love and loss to writing, from nostalgia to art, from social commentary to drunk social media posting—all written in O'Conner's straightforward, thoughtful style.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKevin J. O'Conner
    Release dateMar 18, 2015
    ISBN9781310381324
    The Imperfect Document
    Author

    Kevin J. O'Conner

    Kevin J. O’Conner (56) is not your typical poet. After 30 years of writing only sporadically, Kevin J. O’Conner returned to poetry in 2013—first as a creative exercise, then for the therapeutic benefits. Since 2015, he writes every day, exploring the craft of poetry through monthly writing challenges—‘my ongoing effort to write something that doesn’t sound like something I would write’, he says. Kevin’s poems explore isolation, memory, life’s small moments, and the experience of starting over at ‘a certain age’—always with an emphasis on straightforward expression. As of Spring 2019, Kevin has published eleven collections of poems, the latest of which is WISHES SOMETIMES HAVE CONSEQUENCES, plus four volumes of ‘love notes’ to the days of the week. His poems have also appeared in Raven Chronicles, Spindrift, The CDC Poetry Project, Lament for the Dead, and the anthology VOICES THAT MATTER, and as part of the Clay? VI (2016) exhibit at Kirkland Arts Center. When not writing poetry, Kevin can be found copy-editing documents from far-flung places, attending open-mic readings, designing books, and contemplating what to cook now that he is tired of soup. He lives in Bellingham with his mom's neurotic cat, Cleo III. (updated 28 October 2019)

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      Book preview

      The Imperfect Document - Kevin J. O'Conner

      WRITING

      IN A ROOM BY THE LAKE AT THE END OF THE DAY

      11 February 2015

      I heard rattling and footsteps outside

      a man with a bicycle

      walked past the window

      The surface of the lake

      rippled next to the dock

      The clock on the wall stood at 11:14

      the expressionless monkey face stared at me

      from behind the hands

      Behind me, another clock

      steadily ticked the seconds by

      Messages on the wall

      spoke to people no longer here

      while I wrote this message

      to people not yet present

      with each line, pondering what I might say next

      Now the room is quiet

      the light outside is fading

      I don’t mind having the space to reflect

      The day will be gone soon enough—

      this will remain

      WRITING

      27 January 2015

      Facing the blank page

      on a brand new day

      What marks will I make?

      What will they say?

      Will I cross them out and try again?

      Perhaps I’ll stare at the ghostly photographs

      to invite new inspiration

      What if the images trigger no thoughts?

      Will I write anyway?

      Or get up and walk away?

      It’s a strange proposition

      this thing called writing

      You never know where it’s going to lead

      or what it will reveal

      Therein lies the adventure…

      TWO WORDS

      10 February 2015

      Two words popped into my head last night

      as I was falling asleep

      I thought they’d be the start of something intriguing

      but now I no longer remember what they were

      Two words popped into my head this morning

      as I checked my mail

      What I thought would be the start of something fun

      turned out to be a never-ending back-and-forth

      Sometimes the ugly voices drown out everything else

      and the same old tired clichés surface again

      and everything I say

      is the same everything I’ve been

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