Erik Gern
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erikgern.bsky.social
Erik Gern
@erikgern.bsky.social
99 followers 170 following 240 posts
Sometime writer; developer in higher education; just an odd duck/silly goose in general. Opinions are my own.

Blog: https://blog.erikgern.com
Location: Tampa Bay, FL
Pronouns: he/him
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erikgern.bsky.social
"Winter Solstice 2025." #poetry
Winter Solstice 2025 Your hope slumbers, Snoring like the wind Through fallen trees, Frost encrusting her closed eyes. Honor this long moment Before she rises and melts the frozen river, Revealing its eternal current To her returning light.
December 21, 2025 at 10:47 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Fear follows like the moon." #poetry
Fear follows like the moon By Erik Gern Fear follows like the moon, Ghost of the night sky, Lighting all below in dull silver Or covered with its cloak. I have tried to run from it, Block it out with window shades. But its light turns corners To find my wary eyes. Can I learn to walk in moonlight, To feel through its shadow? The moon is not constant, But should I strive to be?
December 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
Nothing to see here, move along.
Two tabby cats wrestling on a reading chair. One looks at the camera disapprovingly.
December 11, 2025 at 2:40 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Reptilian." #poetry
Reptilian You deserve better Than that rock you want to crawl under. Let the sun warm you like a heated blanket, Coaxing your body out of torpor, And move at your own pace.
December 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
And nearby:
Mural of Dolly Parton and RuPaul on a brick storefront.
November 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
Oh Asheville.
Mural on a brick storefront. David Lynch having a cup of coffee, saying "A damn fine cup of coffee."
November 26, 2025 at 5:37 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
Spending Thanksgiving with family in Asheville NC.
Middle aged man with cat hugging his shoulder. Pomeranian mix dog acting silly.
November 24, 2025 at 8:08 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
From the Oddities and Curiosities expo in Tampa. I feel ya, bud.
Taxidermy raccoon drinking beer and smoking a cigarette.
November 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Room to Stretch His Wings." #poetry
Room to Stretch His Wings Erik Gern Have you ever looked at a flying fox, With his puppy dog eyes and snout, And mistaken him for a Sweet brown mutt You might adopt from the neighborhood shelter? The flying fox will never be a dog. He has his own needs: Fruit and nectar, A place to dangle from the ceiling, Room to stretch his wings. Do we love equally Both our dogs and our flying foxes?
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Damn Heroes." #poetry
Damn Heroes Sick patients, bankrupted, Young children, starving, All frightened, erupted, “You cowards, keep fighting!” But they have all fled, Their infected hearts dead. – Written November 11, 2025
November 11, 2025 at 2:28 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
My afternoon in downtown Tampa.
A hand-drawn protest sign with the rebellion badge in red, white, and blue; RESIST! on the bottom; and May the Force Be With You along the top corners. A man with curly silver hair holding a protest sign downtown.
October 18, 2025 at 11:02 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Climb." #poetry
Climb Erik Gern, 10/16/2025 Now, my friends, let us climb Over jagged granite bluffs, hands bleeding, Keeping the sun at our backs. I falter, yes, and falter again, yet will Never leave this righteous pilgrimage. Give it one more chance, always, until we See the summit.
October 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Roman Chair." Named after a torture device--I mean, exercise equipment used during my physical therapy. #poetry
Roman Chair Erik Gern Difficult situations can teach you To move in ways You thought impossible. A life upside down Requires a change in perspective And determination. Push on though. Soon you'll be Right side up again.
September 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"While I Do Good." #poetry
While I Do Good If I must be shot, Let it be while I do good. Feeding the starving. Comforting the grieving. Protecting the vulnerable. Inspiring others by creating art. Heaven forbid I am shot While making the world worse.
September 11, 2025 at 1:14 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"I sought my father" #haiku #poetry
I sought my father Among silent mountain pines Yet found wind and water. —Erik Gern
September 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Ukemi." #poetry
Ukemi When will I learn to fall, To meet the ground in a roll, Let my body rotate on itself As my legs stand me up? But I haven’t failed myself: I find flow in every step. My problems may charge forward, Yet I step aside and guide Each one to the floor. Where now is my center? If I find it in my heart, I’ll keep it as my axis, Drawing circles with my feet. --Erik Gern
August 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
On the 80th Anniversary of the Hiroshima Bombing. #poetry
On the 80th Anniversary of the Hiroshima Bombing The snow bank glows pink in the sunrise As it clings to the mountain slope, A blanket of beautiful doom. Every day, princes and generals Carry buckets of ice cubes from their freezers, And dump it onto the bank. One avalanche is warning enough; Two is a condemnation. A third would wash the whole valley away. Only the mountain would survive. –Erik Gern, August 8, 2025
August 6, 2025 at 12:20 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Hope is a Bicycle." #poetry
Hope is a Bicycle I give you my anger. It is a car bought off eBay, Tires worn and smooth, Engine locked, Transmission grinding, A machine that runs on fire. Hope is a bicycle, And I must power it myself. --Erik Gern
July 29, 2025 at 10:06 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Optimized." #poetry
Optimized In computer science, There is an optimal algorithm for Almost anything, A solution that, if not perfect, then As close as possible. A maze of a thousand by a thousand cells, Designed with one way in and out, Can be solved with the phone You keep in your pocket. Human life cannot be optimized. We do not live in discrete values, Like letters in a crossword, Or numbers in a sudoku puzzle. This maze is not designed With neat walls drawn to a grid, But is marked in watercolor, Paint mixing, still wet on the canvas, And no guarantee Of a path out. But isn’t it grand To live an un-optimizable life? Free from the burden of perfection? --Erik Gern
July 14, 2025 at 2:17 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
Happy Pride.
A rainbow with squiggly borders underneath some hand-written text: Yes, there is exhaustion Yes, there is fear But still, there is PRIDE
June 28, 2025 at 11:51 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Mend Without Thread." #poetry
Mend Without Thread I hope God doesn't exist. What forgiveness is possible For dropping bombs on children– For starving the poor– For ruining the Earth– For our methods of self-destruction? But if God doesn't exist, What hope is there for tikkun olam, For mending the world? How do you mend without thread? --Erik Gern
June 22, 2025 at 9:05 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
A poem for today. "Cruel, Broken Men." #poetry
Cruel, Broken Men The world has too many Cruel, broken men. They see us who aren't like them, And they try to break us In the same ways. Pulled apart at our joints like plastic dolls, Limbs bent and snapped, Reassembled, but mixed up and backward. Put on parade in tidy rows as the cruel, broken men watch. But we remember how we should fit When those cruel, broken men turn away. With school glue and popsicle stick splints, The limbs we find, put back in place. Changed, but whole. --Erik Gern, 6/14/2025
June 14, 2025 at 11:15 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Bearing the Sun." #poetry
Bearing the Sun Find some way, Until that life we’re gifted is Carried off, to be Kind to one another. In each moment, behold that Calm within you. Everyone bears the sun inside. --Erik Gern, 6/10/2025
June 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"Looking After My Heart" #poetry
Looking After My Heart You asked if I needed you To look after my heart As one would a wayward child Lost at a mall. But my heart is no child. It is a cat in the meadow And wild as it is It knows when to come home. –Erik Gern
June 3, 2025 at 12:48 PM
erikgern.bsky.social
"The Uncut Tree/Zhuangzi". #poetry
The Uncut Tree/Zhuangzi I was never suitable for war. I flinched at my yelled name, My stepfather’s booming voice. How could I endure The screech of a Warthog? I had too much compassion To be a good salesman– Taking advantage of another, Pushing a buyer into a pit of debt. I would not remove my own heart. Now, so many– Friends, Creatures, Spirits– Rest in my shade. –Erik Gern
May 19, 2025 at 7:28 PM