Stone Soup Croutons, 1-28-26: What Old Men Do Now

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Brian Mosher featured two weeks ago. Our first feature of 2026. It led to an interesting poem borne of poems of senseless loss and mourning. 

 

Catching up, so I'm posting this quick and thanking Brian for his reading. You should go back and listen. 

 

Thanks for reading.  

 

 

What Old Men Do Now

 

Start screaming to find 
a place on the map
before they wake. 

 

Too old for Hot 

Tamales, old enough to 

remember Cool Kids.

Stone Soup Croutons, 1-21-26: Targeted Poets

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

An open mic happened in light of Richard Spisak being ill. This is a fun one to rewatch. The Stone Soup Players returned!

 

I have more work to do before I can sign out from this dumpster fire week. 

Thanks for reading.

Targeted Poets

The leader now feeds 

on embryos to boost

his pro-life powers

 

while the local pper

opines not everyone

gets to have babies.

Stone Soup Croutons, 1-16-26: Friday Night

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

We had a new workshop this week. It was fun again. So tired I forgot to press record. Thankfully, it was livestreamed, and I just uploaded that.

 

I didn't have a lot to say due to being tired. It shows in the poem, but the images were so perfectly laid out, and themes connected from poet to poet in a couple of cases. I love this group.

 

Off to write other things. Including the Stone Soup Crouton poem I should have written before. 

Thanks for reading.

Friday Night

Bejeesus knocked

you on bee's knees.

 

Mangosteen juice

shoots evergreen.

Projects I Slacked on in 2025: My Stone Soup Croutons Poems

During the summer, I stopped Stone Soup Croutons poems. I couldn't keep up anymore and the grind of putting a poem out every Friday was wearing on me as I was trying to write different poems and longer pieces. 

I wish I hadn't done that. I finally started up again in December. That's almost six months of no Crouton poems.

Even before I did this, there were weeks I missed that I wanted to go back to. I'm determined to go back and write the poems for the weeks I missed, but I'm not sure if that will happen. I hope I can keep up when Stone Soup returns in January.

Stone Soup Croutons, 12-17-25: One Man's Aggressive Nirvana

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

I held Stone Soup's first online workshop this past Wednesday. I think it went well and hope to talk even less whenever the next one happens.

I'm grateful to everyone agreeing to be recorded for the workshop. It's actually interesting recapping statements I made about other people's poems. It's funny how a good chunk of what I said out loud actually went into the poem below. 

So yeah, the secret's out. Sometimes I listen to someone's work and then make shit up.

 

Now you know how I do it. That's something, right? 

This is technically the last Crouton poem for the year, because this is in all likelihood the last gathering of the y ear. If I'm lucky--and I haven't been so far--I hope to catch up with the weeks from July to December that I missed. 

I hope you all enjoy your holiday time however you spend it. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

One Man's Aggressive Nirvana

 

I have a black

belt in karate 

and cah-ray-zay.

How's that for

enlightenment?

Stone Soup Croutons, 12-10-25: Apocalypse and Chill

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

  

I'm back doing this. I've missed months of work but I have to get back to the weekly grind.

 

It was easy this week thanks to feature Anna Geoffroy. She made it fun. Listen and watch if you don't believe me.

 

Instead of playing the video back the next day, I was able to take notes of everyone who was on the mic while moderating for the first time in a while. It felt good to multitask. 

 

I even had the title before Anna was done.  

 

I'm out of practice big time. I'm just happy to be at this again. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Apocalypse and Chill

 

Hear your childhood
in the supermarket aisle. 

 

Never hear "Roadrunner"

in the Stop & Shop. 

Stone Soup Croutons, 7-9-25: Adjust, Adjust, Adjust

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

I'm catching up on my Stone Soup Crouton poems. Let's start with one from our open mic on July 9.

 

You should listen to it again.   

I should just publish and run. I have four more to do so I can catch up.

 

Thanks for listening. 

 

Adjust, Adjust, Adjust

Century's a husk,

it's dogs barking

out your silence. 

 

Whole homes 

hemorrhage under

new loyalty oaths. 

Stone Soup Croutons, 7-2-25: Lost Inheritance

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Jackie Chou gave us the reading we needed for the week of July Fourth. I hope you take time to look at the video.

 

I tried to keep to the mood of the  week, but late poems are often tainted by more recent news. Hope this poem does Jackie's feature, and her friends, some justice.

 

Still playing catch up, but I'm gaining ground. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Lost Inheritance

 

Our corpses

will rise again

to give birth

to what can 

not be stopped.

 

We will all be

beat into blocks

to give a shape

to world under 

fluorescent light.  

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-25-25: Renewal

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Nina LaNegra closed out June for Stone Soup, and I took a bread from Crouton writing. It was a great night, just in case you haven't seen the video yet.

 

Catching up this week with crouton poems. Hope to be done by Friday. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Renewal

Pale horses

run faster in

summer sun.

 

Need a home

just to live 

though this.

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-18-25: Staying Home

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Thank you, Marvin Louis Dorsey. We enjoyed your feature. The rest of you can watch it and forgive my face for somehow getting in the way of Mark State's poem. I enjoyed his poetic librettos and tried to create an appropriately tight poem. Well, tight for a crouton poem at any rate.

 

I hope to see Marvin, and the rest of you, as you join me next week for Nina LaNegra's feature.  

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Staying Home

Your presence in 

the cubicle keeps

building's rent low. 

That's a relief.

 

To be a child,

only needing walls 

of earth to be safe 

from icy hands. 

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-11-25: While Recovering

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Lee Varon returned to feature this past Wednesday. It's been too long since we've had her back. Watch her feature if you weren't there.

Because Lee started off the night, here theme became the dominant theme of this week's poem. I'm glad for it. Her work is important and inspires.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

While Recovering

The waiting. For a bed.

For the one in tow to run

out of manic resistance. 

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-4-25: Come and See the Show

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Happy June! Thanks for coming to the open mic this past Wednesday. Sorry for the weird camera work in the video.

 

I have a ton of work on my plate. Jobs to complete, Stone Soup features to announce, poems to write. A lot to do with no calm center to work from makes it harder to do these poems. 

 

It helps when the open mic works off each other. Thanks to Mark States and Robert Fleming for their contributions, which helped me along this week.

 

The title I cribbed from an Emerson, Lake and Palmer song. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Come and See the Show

Popcorn and a few thousand grams

of carbs to keep Stockholm stocked up.

Stone Soup Croutons, 5-28-25: Hands In

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

Black Byrd delivered as promised for Stone Soup Poetry's last feature this May.

Sorry had to see my face during the last part of the video. I kept myself unmuted while playing the video portions of Black Byrd's reading (which seemed to go well after six hiccups)  and lost track.

 

I feel awkward doing Crouton poems when I have a featured poet do such a personal reading, and Black Byrd's was arguably the most personal we've had since starting up online.

 

Stuck to the overall theme of the feature. Appreciate everyone's contribution.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Hands In

 

Our assaulters have

retroactive immunity. 

 

Staunchness only 

shown towards victims.

Stone Soup Croutons, 5-21-25: Godsmacked

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

This past week was an all-open mic due to the person I wanted to feature being out. It was fun. 

 

It's so hard to do Crouton poems--or do anything poetry related--during the weekend.  After years of writing during the week, my natural inclination is to turn off my writing brain.

 

It's hard enough to do the Crouton poem on Fridays. God I miss the old Monday routine.

 

Fun fact: Even after this poem is published, there are two Crouton poems I never got the chance to write. One, I believe, is from November. The other one is from even further back. Maybe I'll try to tackle these before the end of our anniversary month. 

 

Be sure to be back next week for Black Byrd's feature. 

 

Once again, it was the opening poem--this time from Mary Ann Honaker--that got me going. And she introduced me to a band I didn't know about. Much appreciated. 

 

Sadly, the title wasn't influenced by a certain band but by a certain segment that used to air on the pre-Jon Stewart "Daily Show." I misremembered the title.

 

Godsmacked

 

Venus reborn graduates

into finding long lost 

documents. New quest 

to know who forced

her into modernity.

Stone Soup Croutons, 5-14-25: No Visitors

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Doug Holder featured two weeks ago. Despite some video trouble, including James Van Looy and Jan Rowe unable to perform, the recording was a success. I'm running behind with poems otherwise I would have posted this last Friday. Hopefully, this week's Crouton poem will go up later.

 

Despite my best efforts, Patricia  Carragon's opening alien poem got me hooked and took over the rest of the poem. I love and hate when this happens because I know and don't know where things are going as I write them.

No Visitors

 

The aliens don't want

to be taken from their

craft. To them, Earth

is a dunk tank losing

Stone Soup Croutons, 5-7-25: On Weekends, We Rehearse Emergency Migration

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Melissa Castillo-Garsow kicked off our anniversary month. I was so sick last week, I couldn't even pick up a pen last Friday. You can see me fading in the video, most likely. Thankfully, I lasted the whole feature.

Thought of May Day, the current political climate. The bravery of people like Melissa speaking out in any capacity. The people talking about the "hate" towards Trump when reacting to any number of his absurd actions. This poem came out of it.

Thanks for reading.

On Weekends, We Rehearse Emergency Migration

 

Day off, we see 

who died. You're

this weekend's

Jesus. It will go

as well as the 

original messiah,

Stone Soup Croutons, 4-30-25: Future Support

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Toni Rose closed out National Poetry Month this past Wednesday. I'm glad we had her back. Check out the video, which also has info on how to support her. 

A lot going on this week. Some of it seeped into the poem. Some didn't. 

Thanks for reading.

Future Support

 

Peace kept 

through faith 

that violence works.

 

This Spring 

where nothing
melts or ripens. 

Stone Soup Croutons, 4-24-25: 2025

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Got back from New Orleans last Wednesday and put together a last minute open mic on Thursday.

There's a blink-you-miss it video of the event.

I did take part in the open mic but because I never include my own work as part of the open mic mix (it's better this way), here is a haiku to catch up for the new week.

 

Thanks for reading.

2025

Stone Soup Croutons, 4-16-25: Run

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Carl Stilwell (aka CaLokie) was our last feature poet on April 16. The day after, I had to prep for a trip to New Orleans and wasn't able to post on Friday the way I usually do.

You should check out the video. CaLokie is quite the treasure. I hope to have him back in our ranks.

Here's more of the same poem I've been writing for too long. 

Thanks for reading.

Run

Shooting star

coming right 

at us! 

 

Don't move,

don't blink,

don't wish.

Stone Soup Croutons, 4-9-25: There Must Be a Better Place

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions selected from Stone Soup Poetry's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here.

 

I also have a book collecting the best of my first year of poems. Click here to purchase it.

 

Don Kingfisher Campbell came through with a wonderful feature just when I thought we weren't going to have one. I appreciate the save. The feature is good to listen to once you get past my voice.

 

I'm not a hundred percent back by any means. Let's get to the poem so I can rest.

Thanks for reading.

There Must Be a Better Place

For some, utter calm

is only achieved by 

constantly being

able to hear their own

voice saying goodbye