When I got divorced
I realized early on that I had to look at
What I was gaining as opposed to
What I was losing
When I did, I found much to consider
With all due respect
Because this is the nature of the universe
A place beyond words
Invented and strung together with invisible wire
Impossible to comprehend
Bent and shaped to context
The positive and the negative
Like everything, duality, reality
Depends on this perception
With all due respect
Because this is the nature of the universe
Though I love music built on dialogue or
Books that describe old treasures or
Movies that meander with
Endless explanations,
Sometimes I wonder
If the director doesn’t see or
Understand, the beauty of a smile
The tenderness of a tear or
The joy in an embrace
With all due respect
Because this is the nature of the universe
When I got divorced,
I began listening to nothing but jazz
Mingus, Monk, Miles and others,
The wilder the better
Hard bop and Dolphy, because
Only they understood
The corners of condition
Angles, and imperfections
Alive in human struggle
For love
Broken and redeemed,
With all due respect
Because this is the nature of the universe
Doug Hoekstra
Doug Hoekstra is a Chicago-bred, Nashville-based writer and musician, educated at DePaul University in the Windy City (B.A.) and Belmont University in the Music City (M.Ed.), whose prose, poetry, and non-fiction have appeared in numerous print and online literary journals. His first set of stories, Bothering the Coffee Drinkers, was published in April 2006 and earned an Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) for Best Short Fiction (Bronze Medal). Ten Seconds In-Between, his latest collection of short stories, was published in June, 2021 on Better than Starbuckspress. Hoekstra has also worked extensively as a singer-songwriter with eight albums of original material on labels released on both sides of the pond, propelling touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, at bookstores, coffeehouses, clubs, libraries, pubs, festivals, radio stations, and castles; solo and with combos in tow. Musical highlights have included Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, as well as many groovy happenings. 2021 also brings a new album of music, The Day Deserved. ("A lot of people write songs, Hoekstra writes five minute worlds" - Wired Magazine).
