The Plunge: 120 poems about nature, love, loss, and life, using 28 different poetic forms

By Matthew Robinson

Matthew Robinson’s collection The Plunge features 120 poems about love, loss, life, nature, and other topics. The poems include free writes as well as 28 other poetic forms.
While some poems focus on the minutiae of life, such as ‘The Bee’ and ‘Butterfly’, others take you around the world, such as ‘Forever in Mozambique’ and ‘Antarctica’.
There are deep and profound life lessons offered within, but also songs of love sung across the pages. These are Robinson’s favorites amongst his poems, written over more than five years!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035803897

Matthew Robinson

Matthew Robinson is Professor of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University. He is author of more than 20 books in his academic disciplines of criminology and criminal justice. Robinson has been writing poetry for more than five years, and he has written more than 2,000 poems! His poetry appears in various outlets including, most recently, Silent Spring and Raven’s Perch.

Book preview

Mindful

A bright, warm sun

taken for granted by nearly everyone walking outside

under the radiant blue skies and billowy white clouds

as their busy feet wear new paths into the lush green grass.

Presence, awareness, and mindfulness

require your presence, awareness, and mind

fully focused on what is in front of your face.

Stop, look, notice.

See the Carolina blue sky

the yellow and purple flowers

the red-bricked walkways

the gray and tan stone walls.

Require your feet

to feel the sense of pressure on your heels and toes

and the wetness on the ground if you’re lucky enough to be barefoot

as your feet carry you to your next task.

Require your nose

to smell the scent of pollen from plants

and honey made by tireless bees

who, themselves, are too busy to notice their contributions.

Require your ears

to hear the sounds of the bell

ringing in a new hour on campus

and the songs of birds and laughter of nearby children.

When you were a child

you laughed often, every day

because you were present, aware, and mindful.

Don’t let youth be wasted on the young.

Beautiful Day

(a Rubaiyat poem)

A day so beautiful

that it is hard to even imagine

Sky is a clear, light blue

no clouds visible to hundreds of eyes

Comfortable, warm air

and clothes not sticking to bodies

Cool, dry breeze

above the long, green grass

Young people lying on blankets

locked in embraces

some read

while others play Frisbee and football

Puppies being held

and kissing faces

laughter across the quad

announces relief that winter is finally over

Sunset

She went outside

to see the sky

Colors collide

up above so high

Red and blue

orange and pink

Nothing to do

no need to think

Enjoy the show

of nature’s gifts

Her eyes they glow

her soul uplifts

The sun now down

pigments galore

Her worries drown

peaceful to the core

Her stay not long

the colors fade

A moon so strong

the Earth in shade

Out of My Mind

The bright orange sun is rising

a magnificent blue sky does deliver

Instead of sitting here analyzing

I’m going to go play in the river

It’s the second oldest river on the Earth

yet it’s called The New

Only eight miles north is the source of its birth

I, with my tube, have work to do

Just me on my personal boat

For days straight I’ve been thinking and thinking

Today I’m just gonna lay down and float

Clear my head, all my problems sinking

No suffering, no worries

For one day, only to myself, I’ll be kind

No productivity, no hurries

My only goal to get out of my mind

The Forgotten

There are wildflowers by the thousands

just in this single field

along the side of this narrow river

Every one of them started as a seed

spent from other flowers now long passed

and forgotten

Perhaps a beautiful woman enjoyed the splendor of those wildflowers

or a child did

before they wilted away

This is what I think as I stand before

this extensive patch of radiant red and yellow

popping from the lush, green grass framing a crystal-clear river

I know these flowers will also die

and their seeds will bring forth new flowers in the future

perhaps to be witnessed by a beautiful woman

or a child

Fall, Finally?

The sun is shining

the sky a vivid baby blue

a chill gale announcing

fall may finally arrive

Unseasonably warm weather

extending summer too long

Heat and humidity in the mountains

preventing any change of color

Tree after tree after