One Stop Spotlight - A story never read - a poem by Daniel Jay

What I love in the blog world is that you meet so many interesting people.
You read their poetry, get to know them, they inspire you and maybe you inspire them, then some interaction starts and sometimes it even changes how you look at things.
This happened to me when I met Daniel Jay of "Thinking with an open mouth"
He's a fantastic writer with a fine-tuned sense for other people's emotions and a well-trained eye to observe, seeing things that others might would overlook.
He works as a nurse and embedded throughout his poetry you will find his heart for other people's needs and for the suffering and afflictions inherent in his work, and also his day to day communicated through both poetry and prose.
Since I met him, he became a big inspiration for my writing, taught me some important lessons, and last but not least, he introduced me to the poetry of Ted Kooser.


So here's the brand-new poem Daniel chose for this spotlight - enjoy! 
~ Claudia


"A Story Never Read"

I had just put him down and as usual, he didn’t want to go.
I took off his pants and shirt, then, fully clothed , crawled
into bed with him. I read him a story and made him giggle at
all the funny parts, chasing the silly crocodiles with my finger.
It is the only part of my day that he gives complete attention
to what I say – all along his tired eyes were lit with the promise
of purring tigers, lady dinosaurs, and hand-cranked cars. Earlier,
that same finger was sorting through a noisy medication cup,
trying to wiggle a pill away from its pleated edge only this time,
no one was there to laugh and all I could think about was you.

©  Daniel Jay of "Thinking with an open mouth"


And for those of you, who want to know a bit more about Daniel:
He began writing in 1998 because of some hard times that he had to deal with. Back then, he didn't share his writing with anyone nor read others. After some years, it changed and one day, he wrote a poem that changed the way he felt. It was small but said how he felt in a way that was expressive but concise. It had visual appeal to him and forced reflection every time he read it. After this it was his goal to write more that made him feel the same way.
When life took a turn for better and the pain diminished, he was happy - but had never written about happiness - writing about good things was very foreign to him. Then he began to read the poetry of others..and reading has become a huge part of his learning. 
Recently, Ted Kooser has blown him away with his inner reflections on the lives and moments of others. That is what he looks for in his reading - he makes critical decisions every day about the lives of others, so when he picks up a book, he wants thinking to be a sort of effortless fun, and he hopes that his writing might have a smiliar effect..