Samadhi Muse home page
This web site contains poetry. Mostly, it is mine though a few other pieces have found their way into it as well; things which others have written for me – or things that I’ve particularly liked.
The opening page, which you are now reading, is a static page. I.e., it doesn’t change much. It is intended as an introduction and an orientation to new people who’ve just discovered the site.
Discussion about the blog, itself, as opposed to the poetry on it, can be found under the special category, “About this site“. Here you will find you will find stuff about this site and its day to day evolution (such as when new features are added or changes are made to how something works).
I’ve been writing poetry since I was in High School in the 1960’s. Initially, it was a way to express powerful emotions I had bottled up inside of me. Where I grew up was a blue-collar sort of a place and letting folks know that you were sensitive was a liability. As the years went by, the poetry remained an outlet for me but it also became a type of an emotional diary for me.
I’ve noticed for many many years, when I read back over my stuff, that some poems were better than others. 
Some spoke to me as strongly years later as they did the day I wrote them. But others suffered badly over time. I began to watch my process to see what made some poems better than others.
And watching yourself this way is an utterly delicate process because self-consciousness, itself, is a major cause of what can mar a piece. I discovered though that when I wrote, I
needed to get out of the way and remove the judgmental mind, and even the tendency to watch the process, from the action of writing and just let the emotions I was feeling drive the pen.
As a secondary matter, I also found out that referring to things my readers couldn’t know about made for poems that were meaningless to them regardless of what they might mean to me.
When I read a lot of my earlier stuff now, in truth, it makes me cringe. 
There are months of stuff here in places where I was caught up in some angst or other and I just spewed on about it for weeks.
But, there are also places where real magic happened. 
Places where, though raging with emotion, I managed to find the exquisite balance between feeling and standing to the side. And during such moments, I watched some beautiful and amazing things flow from my pen.
It is some of these latter poems that strike me as strongly today as the day I wrote them. As if the very essence of those moments so long ago were captured, indelible, in the words.
At some point in the not too distant future, as a kindness to my readers, I intended to go through the entire body of work and rate it into Recommended, OK and Skip categories. It’ll allow an interested reader to skim through what I recommend and pass on the rest.
A logical question might be, “Why don’t you just suppress all the bad work and only put out your best?“. I suppose I could but I choose to store my work electronically and I want to keep it all in one place. 
And, this WordPress Blog and the backups I make from of it, are that place. Besides, this site is at least as much for my pleasure as it is for anyone else’s who cares to come here and wade in my past. And all of what’s here – whether good of bad to other reader’s sensibilities – has value to me – because it represents the stories of my life.
As we go forward, I will, of course, continue to add new work
to this site and to correct and adjust the existing work on it. Please note that everything you find on this site is Copyright, Dennis Gallagher and may not be used without my express permission.
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Some of my poetry has been published out in the world.
So, if you’ve liked what you’ve seen here, you might follow the links, below. They will take you to The Culturium website; which is a wonderful place.
Specifically, they will take you into small collections of my poetry which the Culturium has been graceful enough to republish for me. I think these two small collections contain some of my best work.
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I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Best wishes,
Dennis Gallagher
Sounds great Dennis. Will look forward to these.
Los Angeles Skyline
Is standing lean and tall
In the late afternoon light
Clean, sharp lines
Erect in the sky
Cutting through the cool, crisp air
I breathe in deeply,
All of this beauty
I hold in for a moment
I found your site by searching for RBS Express, Ritzville, WA. I was there from about 12/68 – 3/69. I’ve been looking on a map trying to determine where the train was parked. I found newspaper article that mentioned Tokio siding of the Northern Pacific Railroad but that’s all I can find. Any help would be appreciated.
Ed,
I’ve replied to you in a private E-Mail.
Dennis
Dennis,
I read this again today…it is wonderful. I too have been writing poetry, but by the time I reached the University, I stopped. I have been writing prose since then. You see, in a world where success is measured in money, writing in Hindi, or poetry is not lucrative. I decided to become a writer in English, which anyway is the language I love most of all.
Your posts, your mails, they are like a lifeline, an education.
You know, in Hindu mythology, one can get any knowledge one wants to have, by meditating, or ‘logging into’ a celestial river of knowledge called ‘Gyan Ganga’ (The River of Knowledge).
You know, you are that for me.
God bless you and Colette!
Affectionately,
Gouri
Thank you, Gouri. That’s very nice to hear. Cheers, my friend.
hello…i came upon your poetry through culturium…i stopped, i read, i ate, i devoured such magnificent words…a quote from one of your holy poems now is pinned to my bulletin board…”awareness:so easy to conceive, so hard to maintain.”
i could have chosen 1000 more but this one spoke to me…loud and clear
blessings, liz
Thank you. It is a sweet thing to know that something you’ve written has touched someone.