Clutching Bricks: Poetry Without Apologies

By Tre LaVin

Passion, as I have come to know it, is necessary to reach the pinnacle of true happiness. Without it, we would remain incomplete. After a long period of self-assessment, I was able see that life itself is fragile enough without us doing our best to damage it. Priority is precedence for direction, just as reflection is another chance at redemption. It is funny how a mirror can give birth to perspective. My own words opened the window that would come to allow me to appreciate the frailties of what God has given me, teaching me an ultimate lesson.

Is it possible to fully comprehend what is seen? Not all the time, especially when looking through natural eyes. Often, we let our emotions block the clarity of what we see. As these words become real to you, may you find not only the strength to believe, but the conviction to make a difference! In this volume of poetry, there is much to ponder as I am reminded of just why I am here…and now, my purpose could not be more evident! Within the walls of this creative space I am clutching bricks that break down the very conventions of what I thought I knew, using these poetic pieces as cement and ink as the mortar hoping to leave an imprint on the mind so concrete that it will stand time’s test in the future of our generations to come. May this volume of poetry breathe fresh air into your life and help you shape your own vision as you begin to leave your mark on those around you. In these times, we can ill afford to be HISTORY, we must make HISTORY!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728363967

Tre LaVin

Tre LaVin was born in Fort Worth, Texas and raised in Aurora, Colorado. He is a U.S. Army and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. He is a pastor, husband, father, brother, uncle, and son who is proud to be doing the Lord's work out in the field. He is also the author of his autobiography, Thank God At Rock Bottom, Jesus Was The Rock That I Hit! and a poetry collection, Clutching Bricks: Poetry Without Apologies. He lives in Humble, Texas.

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© 2020 Tre LaVin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/08/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6397-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6396-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020910344

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

To the life GOD blessed me with:

THANK YOU FOR THE CONSTANT

SOURCE OF INSPIRATION!

Contents

Introduction

Love MISUNDERSTOOD

From Good-bye to…Hello

Beauty’s Name

Meeting People

Thoughts

Far from Empty

An Evolution of Tears

The Story in Your Eyes

Time

Rebirth

All Sense Lost

Untitled

Marry Me

A Place Called Love

My Vow

In the Meantime

7,022 Miles

For Lovely

Longing

Time Apart

Love and Sacrifice

A Path to History

Will There Be Help for Me?

You Act Like You Know Me

Silent Discriminating

Truthfully

Count Down

Because I Love You

Friends

Liar’s Crutch

Hidden Agenda

The Feeling of Love

Love Not Quite A Dream

The Effect of Love

The Life of a Soldier

Formal Warning

Injustice

Forgotten

The Gift

Irreplaceable Journey

As Long as I Can Think (An Extension of Thoughts)

Fulfilled

Tears and Letters

I Am…

Missing Me

Revealed

Still Standing

Life

This Christmas

A Letter to God

Moving On

A Lesson in Caring

After the Rain

Scarred

Chances

Givin’ God Time

I Got Ya Back

Indecision

What ‘Cha Waitin’ For?

Just A Look

Driven

One Man’s Burden

Then and Now

You Hear Me Talkin’

Can’t Stop

My Pen Needs Somebody

Massage Therapy

For the Rough Times

Mental Bloc

Blind Ambition

Pen Affair

Flowers

Let’s Make Poetry

Soon Enough

History

You Can’t See Me

Lost in Time

Visions

Why We Write

Bastard

Satisfaction

Entrapment

Faith

Truth Hurts

Lost Daze

To the Barbershop

Nickels and Dimes

Drowning

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda…

Expectation

Misunderstandin’

My Mother

Poetic Musician

Self-Recognition

Power Shift

Creative Process

Because I Am A Black Man

Letter to The World

Letter to the Lost

Until We Get Home

To the Merciless

Letter to Granny

Addie

Poetic Hemorrhage

Therapeutic Impulse

Poetic Subsistence

Ambiance

Why I Love the Black Woman

Suspended

Perceptive Misconceptions

Trinity’s Bond

Confessions Poetic

Picking Up the Pieces (For Hurricane Katrina)

A Shadow of Comfort

My One and Only

Mirrors

From Urban to Suburban

Thank You Rosa

Abstract Visions

Summertime in Como

Time Well Spent

Muted Conversation

Quenched

The Sway of Together

Ride

Because Of You…I

Heed the Call

Fathers and Daughters

Hue vs. Who

The Knowledge Drip

You Can’t Take It with You

The Genesis of Eternity

Letter to The Civil Rights Movement

Polar Opposites

Not So Distant Dreams

HER

The Court of Poetic Opinion

One of the Others

The Essence of We

I, Me, and He

Wordplay

Serrated Interpretations

Somber Storms

Idle

24/7

Did You Ever Think?

Unsteady Salvation

I Never Knew Close Could Be So Distant

Cryptic

Prayer

Snapshots

Self-Assessment

Finally Free

Church

From My Eyes Up

My Words…My Soul…My Life…

Conceptual Boundaries

Holy Spirit

Qualifying the Called

Impeded Progress

Cerebral Road Trip

Preaching to the m-ASS-es

One Round with the Devil

Leaving A Mark

Get Yourself A Pen

Learning

One of These Days

Jesus’ Song

Quotidian Christians

True Worship

Showing HIS Face

God’s Tourniquet

Graffiti

Hot Pursuit

I Love Spending Time with You

Scribbles

Jesus Is

Deliverance

Run On

Appetence

Rested Hope

God’s Four Seasons

Connections

Looking Back, Walking Forward

He Said Otherwise

Mahogany

Morning Devotion

Suitcases

Affected

26 years…209 days…

clutching bricks

Beyond Description

Psychogenic Disarrangement

When Roses Bleed

Poetry, Interrupted

The Basis of A Racist (Smooth’s Sectional)

Spaces

I Am Home Today

The Conundrum of Good and Right

Pocket Wisdom

The Definition of A Lady

Moving Marbles

Becoming A Kingdom Child

Lovely’s Light

Pretty’s Prosperity

Tre’s Treasure

The Far Side of REGULAR

A Long Way

Gratitude

This I Dedicate…

A Message of Necessity

4 Faces and Black Society’s Clinched Fists

We Matter

About the Author

Introduction

Through these pages I have been places I never thought I would go, and had some experiences truly come to test the very fabric of my being. However, God is good, and it is because of Him that I have been able to find and shape this poetic voice He has given to me. I started writing this collection not to publish, but to be able to find a release and an escape from a world that I was sure, at the time, was closing in around me. Passion, as I have come to know it, is necessary to reach the pinnacle of true happiness. Without it, we would remain incomplete. After a long period of self-assessment, I was able see that life itself is fragile enough without us doing our best to damage it. Priority is precedence for direction, just as reflection is another chance at redemption. It is funny how a mirror can give birth to perspective. My own words opened the window that would come to allow me to appreciate the frailties of what God has given me, teaching me an ultimate lesson.

Is it possible to fully comprehend what is seen? Not all the time, especially when looking through natural eyes. Often, we let our emotions block the clarity of what we see. As these words become real to you, may you find not only the strength to believe, but the conviction to make a difference! In this volume of poetry, there is much to ponder as I am reminded of just why I am here…and now, my purpose could not be more evident! Within the walls of this creative space I am clutching bricks that break down the very conventions of what I thought I knew, using these poetic pieces as cement and ink as the mortar hoping to leave an imprint on the mind so concrete that it will stand time’s test in the future of our generations to come.

May this volume of poetry breathe fresh air into your life and help you shape your own vision as you begin to leave your mark on those around you. In these times, we can ill afford to be HISTORY, we must make HISTORY!

Love MISUNDERSTOOD

When you walked into my life,

I had no idea how you would come to affect me.

But through this time, I’ve come to see

just who you are and what you mean to me.

You are the prettiest in my garden of roses that bloom.

Your personality and warmth help to light up a room.

Never forget all of the good times that we shared;

that alone will keep you from running scared…

There is still one thing left for me to say;

as hard as it is, I must say it anyway.

Here come the words, they all are good.

I love you, and hope that is no longer…

MISUNDERSTOOD.

From Good-bye to…Hello

How do you say good-bye?

There really is no proper way.

Seems sometimes, those may be

The hardest two words to say.

Reluctantly, I had to say those words today.

What I wouldn’t give to take back yesterday.

At times, tomorrow seems so far away.

But even still, I must live for today.

In the not-so-distant past I felt complete.

Now in the present, how can I not weep?

For the future seems so far away!

Why can’t tomorrow, just be today?

It is because of you

that my yesterdays were full of joy,

and just the same that my today

keeps me looking forward to a limitless tomorrow.

So, I may have had to say good-bye,

but now more than ever, I can’t wait…

To tell you…

HELLO!

Beauty’s Name

If I had to describe beauty, where would I start?

The heart:

Full of love, compassion, tenderness, and kindness:

It’s hard to imagine a heart like this.

The face:

So lovely, so pure.

The eyes:

So dark, almost mysterious.

The lips:

So soft, undoubtingly perfect.

The touch:

So soothing, so warm.

The body:

Art in its truest form.

So how would I describe beauty?

It’s actually quite easy.

Matter of fact,

Beauty has a name, and her name is…

Meeting People

We meet new people almost everyday,

passing by, on the fly…

It’s a carousel that never really stops.

Trying to make a good impression,

we are sometimes consumed with falsification.

What we want to say slowly becomes what we should have said.

Has circumstance ever put you in a situation with the one?

Or has that hourglass called time slowly allowed that special

one

to grow on you.

In the most critical of moments, why is it that

we cannot be who we really need to be…ourselves?

For in yourself, in that moment,

you may have unknowingly met

the most important of all people:

the person who will come to captivate

the very heart of you

and become one with your soul.

Thoughts

Thoughts…

Millions have passed through my mind over the years.

Thoughts of money, fame, success, love…

seems trouble always comes with that last one.

My thoughts, just my thoughts…

The newness of love, the sacrifices, the joy; heartache,

Heartbreak…

After that, one begins to wonder

will love ever