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Poetry served as my secret confidant.
In early innocent days, I assembled words like LEGO® blocks when my heart felt more than I could speak. On a rare occasion, I presented my poem to a crush, a grade-school girl unsure how to respond.
I felt the risk and sometimes the sting. So I returned to my mask, realizing most people weren't ready for honesty.
But in the quiet shadows, I didn't need to lie. Poetry became my portal.
POETRY. Art to admire? Or gibberish to ignore?
Poll social media and you'll soon locate lovers and haters.
For writers, poetry is both the safest medium and the scariest, all wrapped into one. We hide our hearts in plain sight. At the same time we bear our naked souls to the most casual passerby.
For readers, poetry is both the most polarizing and unifying medium. In one line, we rally around the messenger sent from the stars. In another, we take up weapons for the semi-charged words they dared to craft.
This is the paradox, the mystery, the wonder.
About the author
KARY OBERBRUNNER is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen books. As CEO of Igniting Souls and Blockchain Life, he helps authors, entrepreneurs, and influencers publish, protect, and promote their Intellectual Property and turn it into 18 streams of income. His companies are committed to: Setting Free World-Changing Ideas. An award-winning novelist, TEDx speaker, screenwriter, and inventor, he's been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, CBS, Fox News, Yahoo, and many other major media outlets. As a young man, he suffered from severe stuttering, depression, and self-injury. Today a transformed man, Kary ignites souls. He speaks internationally on a variety of topics including leadership, personal growth, human performance, blockchain technology, and entrepreneurship. As a futurist, he often consults on marketing, branding, Intellectual Property, and Web3.He has several earned degrees, including a Bachelor of Arts, Masters in Divinity, and Doctorate in Transformational Leadership. He also serves as the Berry Chair of Entrepreneurship at Cedarville University, where he teaches on the topics of Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing. Kary enjoys cycling, especially in the French Alps. He lives in Ohio with his wife Kelly and three children: Keegan, Isabel, and Addison.
