Moondoggy Recommends: 48 Love Poems by Steve Roggenbuck

Just the other day my mom commented that I hadn't really written on my blog in a while. Naughty Moondoggy!

So, I thought I'd bring back "Moondoggy Recommends", where I write about stuff I'm digging.

For this installment, I'm looking at Steve Roggenbuck's 48 Love Poems.

There's that old adage that we should see the poetry in the everyday but Steve celebrates the poetry of everyday in the truest sense of the word. He believes in poetry so much so that he sees it in places where many people wouldn't think of looking, like in Facebook and Twitter statuses and in instant messaging.

Steve is a shining light in the world of contemporary poetry. I've had the pleasure of meeting Steve IRL (that means In Real Life, for the uninitiated ) and his positiveness is truly infectious.


48 Love Poems appears to be a companion work to DOWNLOAD HELVETICA FOR FREE, which is made up of 100 excerpts from his MSN history from chats with his girlfriend set in helvetica bold font.

The poetry that makes up 48 Love Poems are simple, raw, and deceptively moving. Scan through them quickly and you might just mistake them for mundane moments with little or no poetry behind them. However, play close attention and there are touching sentiments of tenderness and love between a young couple. This is youthful love in the 21st century.

Throughout 48 Love Poems one can find spelling mistakes and grammar imperfections, but therein lies the charm. Love goes beyond spell check. Love is messy and imperfect with interspersed moments of mind-numbing ordinariness. But Steve juxtaposes the moments he's picked and frames them in a way that says, hey guys, this stuff is art. Steve's type of poetry isn't for everyone, but it should be. Just as poetry should be for everybody.

Steve is one of the many young practitioner to look out for that is pushing the limits and boundaries of what poetry can be. He is a shot of adrenaline that the world of poetry needs right now.

Read 48 Love Poems by Steve Roggenbuck HERE. And his more traditional minimalist poetry collection, i am like october when i am dead HERE.

View Steve Roggenbuck's website HERE.

Also, please check out some of Steve's other web-based poetry projects INTERNET POETRY and Poetry by Emily Dickinson.

Thank you, Steve, for helping make life more poetical and thank you, Mama Moondoggy, for the swift kick in the butt to get this going again.

G