Poet of the Fortnight #23: Tony (Nov 6 - 20, 2018)

Tony has been randomly selected as our 23rd Poet of the Fortnight (PotF)! Tony is a 29-year-old male (ignore his profile, which states 28) living in Colorado in the U.S. His current account was created in April 2017, but don't let that fool you. Tony first discovered this site when he was around 16 or 17 years old -- more than an decade ago!

Please welcome Tony to his own special thread, and be sure to read his latest poem posted just below:

----
Round Two

Heavy breathing, fingers dance
Tracing pictures with my hands
Skin my parchment, sweat... my ink
Mem'ries of bodies in perfect sync

Fingers graze up and down your spine
You shiver from absent minded designs
Echoes of moaning in my mind
On the floor the cloth that made you blind

Fast asleep, you're so content
With a dirty smirk from things I said
I wake you up, with thoughts of fun
Blindfold back on... 'cause I'm not done
----

Tony, please fill out this public survey when you find time. You can pass any question/prompt in this thread, just write "Pass." I will ask 10 questions total throughout the next 2 weeks, and members of the community are encouraged to participate by asking questions of their own. Here's the survey:

Real name:
Meaning behind your PnQ name:
Birth place:
Languages spoken:
When you discovered PnQ and why you joined:
Favorite poet(s):
Book you are currently reading:
Song you last listened to:
Inspirations for writing:
5 truths about yourself:

Thank you! I've been following these threads for a while now : )

Real name: Anthony Krieman
Meaning behind your PnQ name: Me!
Birth place: Chicago, Il
Languages spoken: English

When you discovered PnQ and why you joined: I came across PnQ my sophmore year in highschool. Didn't have a specific reason for joining but I know I wanted to share my writing.

Favorite poet(s): Edgar Allan Poe, H.P Lovecraft, Robert Frost, Oscar Wilde, and the friends on my favorites list

Book you are currently reading: Just finished "Timeless" by R.A. Salvatore

Song you last listened to: "What do I know" by Ed Sheeran

Inspirations for writing: My experiences mainly, but a lot of what I read inspires me as well.

5 truths about yourself:

1) I believe that WHAT we believe is unimportant, its the WHY that piques my curriosity.

2) I thrive in conflict. I love to argue, I'm always up for a good debate, and MMA is how I blow off steam. I don't know when it started, but the harder the fight the greater the allure.

3) Most of the poems I write take me about 20 minutes. I don't come back to half written poems because they are a reflection of how I feel at that moment.

4) I am more alone than I've ever been in my life. I'm going through a divorce, I just moved to a new state, and I don't have much in the way of family outside my three girls.

5) I was hoping to deploy with my unit to Afghanistan a few months ago... just to be away from my life for a while.

I can not believe how quiet here is.
Just to get this started
You are such a neat person and the least I could say about your works( poetry) they are neat too.
Are you a soldier?
If yes where? And what is your rank?
Have you ever been over seas? Have you ever been in a mortal combat?
If yes and if this question doesn't provoke wrong emotions, tell us how did it affect you as a person, as a soul and as a poet?

Sorry for my unusual questions. I just wanted to break the silence, but know I am not good at this,

How-many languages you speak?
any children? Do you like Spanish, French or any other language's poetry ass well??
Are you in classic music?
What kind then?

First off thank you for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed. I'm an infantryman in the Army, I made Sergeant two years ago. I have been deployed, but not something I really talk about. As to how its effected me? It made me harder. Not necessarily stronger, but more resilient.

I only speak English fluently, though I know a little Hebrew, and enjoy music in Hebrew as well.

My three daughters are my light in this world. Without them I would not be someone that anyone would want to meet. They are 7, 5, and 5 months old, and all are daddy's girls.

I love classical piano. I have a playlist on spotify specifically for that!

Tony,

Glad you have stuck with PnQ. Great poetry!

I can relate to having daddy's girls - my own daughters bring out my best AND my worst (what a way to learn patience!)

What do you do in Colorado for fun? (My youngest was at Colorado State - I have many fond memories of the outdoors there)

When you get the chance, where do you hope to travel (five or so places)?

There is so much to do here!

I go hiking and rock climbing as often as I can at Garden of the Gods. Mountain biking, snowboarding, fishing, and hunting. There are countless breweries and wineries, I've been to a handful.

I'd like to travel to Israel, Japan, Italy, Germany, the nearest planet that can support human life, and for pure curiosity... the Galapagos Islands.

I cross Colorado few times on my truck driving times, she is magnificent only it doesn't have ocean.
I know I did not mean in their own language, I wanted to know if you were familiar with those country's poetry, because I am even though I don't know those languages either. Poets such as Lorca, Neruda, Arthur Rimbaud?
Who is your favorite English poet whether American or British?

Nice to see you in the spotlight Tony.
What is your proudest achievement to date.
What would be the top three things on your bucket list.
Who's your biggest role model.

This is true, but I will trade the ocean view for the mountains and not getting hit by hurricanes any day!

I can't say that I am familiar with any other languages' poetry or their authors. A large part of poetry, for me, is being able to understand and relate or at least empathize with what I'm reading or who wrote it. Sure other languages may be beautiful to listen to but its removed to me.

Favorite English poet is a toss up between Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, who was not strictly a poet, but what he has written is deliberately dark and draws the reader in to its murky confines.

It may be cliche to some, but my proudest achievement to date is the ongoing project of raising my daughters. My oldest are both advanced for their age and just absolute sweethearts.

In the Army there are staff sections that manage logistics behind a unit. My proudest professional achievement would be running three of those sections by myself as part of the rear detachment while my unit is deployed. I currently manage Human Recources, Intelligence and Security, and Communications by myself; all of which are outside of my realm of experience and the positions are above my pay grade.

My bucket list? Easy. Marry Emily and spend the rest of my life sipping wine at sunset and writing her poetry. She's the inspiration behind all the love poems I uploaded to this site. Two, travel to as many places as I can. I want to see the world. Three, finish and publish the books I've been writing for the last few years.

I don't have one. I am unashamedly me and I follow my heart and my own moral code. There are those I respect, but none I follow or aspire to be like. My aspirations are simply to be the best me I can be.

As a serviceman yourself, how do you feel about the recent massacre in Thousand Oaks caused by a marine veteran who is about the same age as you?

What makes a person a veteran at 29 years of age BTW?

Question #1: Who is Emily? Tell us more about how/when you met her, who she is, what you love about her, etc.
Question #2: You said that your girls are daddy's girls. I assume you're away from them often because you're in the military (correct me if I'm wrong). What's the longest you've been away from them and how do they cope with your absence? Would you ever consider changing career paths in order to stay at home with them?
Question #3: What are three things you like about yourself and 1 thing about yourself you would like to improve?

Hey Tony :)
Good to see you here on poet of the fortnight. Nice to get a deeper insight into fellow poets. I must say you are a poet who write with your emotions and from the depths of your heart. I have read raw, edgy and beautiful poems of yours :)
Love the way you talk of your daughters, our children are why we are here really I believe.

Just one question fella:

Do you share your poetry/writing with work colleagues, or only personal to yourself?

Anyway hope you enjoy your time here

The man was mentally ill. No sane person does what he did. I will say that not everyone is equipped to be in the military and no amount of training can prepare you for dealing with the aftermath of what we do. Everyone is different and everyone reacts to trauma in their own way. Tragically... some people break.

A veteran is anyone who has served, regardless of time served or of age.

Emily is my first love and oldest friend. We met on a playground in 4th grade. We have amazing chemistry but the timing has always been off. I love that she makes me feel alive. My heart pounds when we see eachother, and I still get nervous when i see her name on the caller ID.

The longest I've been away was 12 months, the next was 9 months. I think about changing my profession every day but the benefits of staying in, to me at least, are worth the sacrifice.

I like that most things come easy to me. I like that I am confident. I like that I dont fit the mould most people do, I read rather than watch tv, I will call you rather than text, and I dont do the whole social media thing... tried it, not for me.

One thing I would improve would ve the length of my fuse. I have a pretty bad temper. I have self control and dont act on it but i can feel the anger eating away at me sometimes.

Thanks Michael, and I couldn't agree more with your view of children.

I share with a few people. But the majority of what I write never leaves the confines of my notebooks.

Some of it makes it to this site, but the majority of the things I post here are typed in memos on my phone and pasted to the site.

Very sweet about Emily. I hope you've shared that with her :)

Question #4: What do you believe in? Answer any way you like.
Question #5: What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
Question #6: What are your pet peeves?
Question #7: What animal do you think would be your 'spirit animal' and why?

Thank you, and I have... many times.

I believe in a sense of self. That people can push far beyond what they thought their limits are if they put themselves in the right mindset. The jury is hung as far as a higher power is concerned.

Hot cheetos and cream cheese. Had it on a first date in high school. We went out to dinner, which turned out to be more expensive than we had planned so instead of a movie we went to Walmart, had a lightsaber battle up and down the toy aisle, raced motorized shopping carts, bought a bag of hot cheetos, a tub of cream cheese, and curled up in the electronics section and watched Fantastic 4 on a dozen big screens. They actually let us finish the movie before we were kicked out lol.

I don't have many pet peeves, but two are sure to get me going. Laziness and disrespect.

The lark. Something about a bird that sings while flipping carelessly through the air reminds me of something I lost a long time ago. Something I strive to protect in my daughters.

I had hot cheetos and cream cheese for the first time ever a month ago. I have to say -- not bad!

A lark. Nice <3

Question #8: If a genie granted you 3 wishes right now, what would you wish for?
Question #9: Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did the loss affect/change you?
Question #10: And finally, one for the holidays... What are you thankful for?

Tony,

1) If you could be a character in any movie, what would it be and why?

2) What is one thing you wish this world had more of, something tangible/physical or thoughts/emotions, etc?

3) Favorite song/ or one with the most significance to you and why?

My three wishes would be
1) Knowledge, so that I can best choose my path
2) Wisdom, that I may understand it
3) Serenity, that I can accept it.

I lost my Grandfather when I was young. I was the only person who cried at his funeral, maybe because there were only four people there... but I think not. He was a mean drunk. He beat my Grandmother and their children. He was phychologically abusive... he once burned his childrens baby pictures in front of them. But thats not who I knew. To me he was the man who taught me monopoly and that almost 50 percent of the time dice come up seven and only 1 in 36 you'll get 2 or 12. He taught me to always learn the house rules in blackjack and either let the dealer stand low or bust. He made me a childhood prodigy at spades and poker. He sat down and learned to play pokemon as a 50 year old man. Eventually he was homeless. No one in my family would take him in. He taught me survival skills. To hunt and trap with nothing. And then he died. Cold and alone on the park bench I used to visit him at... a few miles from where we lived. How did that change me? It taught me two things. 1) Some things are unforgivable so think before you act; And 2) Family will not always be there.

I'm thankful for my girls.

1) Obviously the answer would have to be Batman. I feel the reasons speak for themself but I will explain. He has an unshakable moral code, he's an all around badass, unlimited funding for toys... er... gadgets, and puts the bad guys in their place.

2) Foresight. Hindsight is 20/20, but if everyone could get on the same page and work towards common goals and put personal gain aside the world would be a better place. I don't see that happening without something horrible happening on a global scale.

3) Gasoline, by Halsey. Everyone has their issues and this song resonates with mine.

Tony, you know your own mind. You come across as certain about what you believe and want, and you exude a kind of genuine, honest self-confidence. It's been a pleasure getting to know you better. The site has been fairly quiet, but I hope you've enjoyed your time as Poet of the Fortnight. Thank you for answering all questions posed!

If anyone has any final questions, I will wait a couple days before starting the next PotF.

I hope I'm not too late!

Truth or Dare?
Love or Lust?
Sunrise or Sunset?
Half Empty or Half Full?
Beanbag or Hammock?
Seaside Towns or Neon Cities?
Milkshakes or Smoothies?
Misty Forest Mornings or Warm Poolside Evenings?
Maple Syrup or Honey?
Summer or Winter?
Clear Nights or Thunderstorms?
Fireworks or Stargazing?
Walks or Drives?
Sweet or Salty?

Thanks, its been fun!

Never too late L
; )

Always dare
Love
Sunset
Either way its time for another beer
Ooo... hammock
Seaside towns
Cant put cookie dough in a smoothie lmao
Misty forest mornings
Honey
Summer...
...for the thunderstorms
Definately stargazing, in a sleeping bag, with the answer to question 2
Walks
I can't have both?

That was fun, brought back memories lol.