Good afternoon, evening and morning to you, poet friends! I’m Joe Hesch and I’ll be tending the bar for tonight’s Open Link Night, the 75th of the dVerse Era.

Today we are one week from Christmas, all it’s magic and all its sometimes overwhelming, even confusing, emotions.

We also are mere days from one of the most emotionally wrenching events in my lifetime, filling me with the deep feelings I felt as a child on November 22, 1963, through the impact a war that touched me as a 19 year old, and as an adult and father on September 11, 2001.

And through all of these events, I never truly expressed my emotions until I, like you, became a poet.

That’s an interesting word, express. Being the nice Catholic school boy I was, I was pressed into taking three (yes, three) years of Latin, so much of which I think I have forgotten until I’m confronted with what a word might mean. Then, somewhat magically, pieces of vocabulary come bubbling up like lava from Mt. Etna.

The word express is made up of two Latin words. One is the preposition ex, which in this case, if I recall correctly, means out of or from within. The other is pressare, the past participle of premere, to push or press.

As poets, that’s what we do. We express ourselves. We push out our thoughts and feelings from within and put them on paper. That’s pretty magical, too, especially for those of us who sometimes have difficulty expressing emotions in other ways.

And that’s where the next part of express comes into play. When we post a poem, we express ourselves, push ourselves out there to the great big mega-Webby über-Universe from within our individual micro-worlds. Again, for some, that’s a big push.

And that’s where Tuesdays at the pub can help. For many of us newer poets, open link night helped push us to express ourselves regularly in the first place…and keeps us at it. It’s also a safe place to meet other folks who also are pushing out those ideas, images, and feelings that entertain, dazzle and make us think each week.

So that’s our our lesson for today at the pub, class. Sorry for the pedantic theme, but, as I said, sometimes I have trouble showing my feelings and, in light of all that we are experiencing these emotion-packed days, I really felt like expressing my thanks, affection and admiration to the dVerse crew and to you for all you do.

Here’s the easier, less preachy way:

• Link in your OLN poem – one per blog, please – by clicking on the Mr.Linky button just below and cutting and pasting in your link.
• Don’t forget to let your readers know where you’re linking up and encourage them to participate by including a link to dVerse in your blog post.
• Visit as many other poems as you like, commenting as you see fit. This is where you get to express yourself about this poet’s work.
• Spread the word. Feel free to tweet and share on the social media of your choice.

If I don’t get the chance in the coming days, Merry Christmas, dear poets. Thank you for all the gifts you bring each week.