R.M. Engelhardt > Quotes

“Sometimes we cannot ignore the negativity of this world. Loss, tragedy & death is a part of being human. In an age where we desperately try to avoid these things around every corner we must gather together and sometimes endure them. Sure. You can avoid social media & the news but if you turn on the blinders then you also become a part of the problem, and not a part of the mourning, the apathy. And not a part of the solution. As it is we have busy lives, families & our own problems. But sometimes as human beings we are allowed to grieve, come together and heal. It's when we become so oblivious to things that we must sit back and reflect on what we've become, or possibly even what we are becoming.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“Truth is?

Sometimes amid all the chaos you've got to walk into the fire whether you like it or not because there's a better world out there waiting for you to help make it.

Stand up.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“WARNING. PSA

LITERARY TYPES ARE EVERYWHERE.

So always carry some form of protection when dealing with poets. This includes but is not limited to anthologies, whiskey bottles (or other object including flask or gin), bags of coffee, berets or bookmarks, turtlenecks, a book of Kerouac or Whitman, etc. Be wary. Prose writers are harder to spot and if they are novelists leave their area immediately or you will be stuck for hours listening to plots.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, COFFEE ASS BLUES & OTHER POEMS

“I can quote a million people but in the end it only comes down to one thing

"Faith”
― R.M. Engelhardt (TALON), The Bones of Our Existence, A Journal 2046

“The ongoing problem with most American poetry & poets today is their lack of belief in themselves & that they don't expand upon their ideals or experiment enough with their craft. That's why we are all stuck in the same old literary grind & groove still pushing out old ideas, listening to ridiculous banter of egotistical critics & still worshipping the old schools & movements of long past yesterdays from decades ago. Dead icons, dead ideas, dead slams and an established academic system that's biased and too busy promoting all the cliche events that they believe are all about community but mainly promoting their own of which are not open to all poets without degrees but mostly only to students & the inner sanctum. Poetry is for everyone and it needs a new vision of our times. The 21st century. The majority of poets who are producing new & original works are being ignored. Poetry should be independent and free of bias and uncategorized.

Workshops or classes are not the solution.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W: POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“There is no revolution.
There is no shallow fame.

There is only being true to
Yourself & your art.

To write or create
You must be a real human being
Or it's garbage”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“Without myth, imagination we are only half-people, trapped in a wasteland of our own creation.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, WHERE THERE IS NO VISION POEMS 2020 R.M. ENGELHARDT

“The sonnet, a lyrical poem, the beauty and magic... convey with our hearts the truth of the universe in a single moment briefly.”
― R.M. Engelhardt

“You dream in syllabus, questions.
And see the lines that others cannot.
And you waltz across the dance floor of the world with verses and wit.

For this moment
Is honest, simple.

But does not truly exist, or last forever”
― R.M. Engelhardt, The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems Of R.M. Engelhardt 1989-2006

“On an early summer morning the sun comes shining through the windows and has the feeling of warmth. And we become one with its tranquility, Its beauty, its gift of another day to begin again. All living things respond to its light and glory. This is the closest we can ever get to heaven or perhaps the feeling of it.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, The Bones of Our Existence, A Journal 2046

“We could be Immortal

If we just let go of hate
If we just let go of chaos
If we just let go of war
If we just let go of guns


We could be Immortal

If we just embraced love

Put human beings & nature first

But instead we choose
To be the worst examples
Of our primitive selves

Lacking in all of our best virtues
Lacking in any new ideas or values

Without these realizations
We go one step forward &
Always two steps back

Never succeeding
Never growing

Dead”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“A good poem or poet
is like a good cigar or a
good whiskey. Everyone
Has their own preferences.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, OF SPIRIT, ASH & BONE POEMS PARABLES R.M. ENGELHARDT

“As I get older I can see the patterns, the ugly corporate face behind the great machine. The sad and over competitive urge to be "loved or liked" on social media platforms exploited by their creators to create a frenzy of human need & desperate want. The system is an absolute con constantly exposing it's users (victims) to self identification and gratification only if they can collect enough followers to make themselves feel popular or complete. Instagram for example is an absolute shit show offering you the opportunity to purchase more exposure and get more likes.

I'm sorry but ... is this really the 21st century?
Are we becoming an " advanced" civilization?

No. This is the inevitable "white noise" of capitalist conformity playing upon human desires & emotions
just looking to make another mil. And its disgusting.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, R A W: POEMS R.M. ENGELHARDT

“The soul becomes an empty house without friends or family.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms Incantations

“We leave so much in time behind us.

Old worlds, glasses full of whiskey & wine & memories. As children we dreamed of being, becoming. In this twilight we merely dream and sometimes wish for the magnificence of lost moments & days. How could it be that we once lived through these times and never realized that these were the sacred days of magic? Now all we have left are songs & photographs wherein our present being attempts to discover it's own rebirth.

Therefore, 'to be' is the only answer.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms Incantations

“Beautiful day.

Art matters. Poetry & literature matters. Friends matter. Life and light matter. Remembering the true history of the world and honesty matters. Words matter. Please don't waste your time on overaught social media, vapid pop stars and lunatic millionaires, icons without any real substance. If you want to change the world? Make the real things matter.

Reality.

It's a revolution.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, WHERE THERE IS NO VISION POEMS 2020 R.M. ENGELHARDT

“If you go looking for angels most likely you'll just find demons with halos instead.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms Incantations

“I believe the world only gives us what we seek to find.”
― R.M. Engelhardt, The Bones of Our Existence, A Journal 2046