https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/Sean Redenbaugh is an author and poet — the memoir 1000 Shades of Red and the novels Salima Falls and Sunlight Parted — and a nature photographer.https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/diversity/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/diversity/Sat, 18 Mar 2023 12:00:00 +0000A hundred million shells of white Each one the same and side by side All joined as one and huddled tight Beneath the sunlit ocean tide Are seen from space in disbelief To decorate the endless sea Yet what brings beauty to the reef Is boundless vast diversity For if each piece were all the same The reef would surely lose mystique And life, in turn, would feel so lame If all who live were not uniquehttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/absence/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/absence/Tue, 01 Nov 2005 12:00:00 +0000There’s something I have lost Something from the past And something I have missed Throughout the years that passed I can’t recall its name I can’t recall its place But the emptiness is real Beneath the smile on this face And in its absence I pretend Though the mask is wearing thin Yet without it I can’t be All the things that I have beenhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/no-longer/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/no-longer/Mon, 28 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000When the apple tree has gifted all its fruit And stands among the forest stark and dim No longer will the sparrow in commute Stop to rest upon its barren limbs When the pomegranate shares away its seed And has no more to offer to the lark No longer will the weary stop to feed When the table has but solitude and barkhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/thine-own-familiar-foe/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/thine-own-familiar-foe/Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000Be not thine own familiar foe Let opportunity not pass unto the night Let day not stand the bearer of thy woe And chance the faded shaming of thy sight Be not thy private adversary’s kin And cast remorse upon the able soul Let not derision occupy thy post within Nor on the fires of pity pitch the coalhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/supplication/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/supplication/Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000God lend me some perfection You have saved for summer’s eve Beneath a fog of failed rejection I must beg to be relieved God send me some sweet vision In your guidance I shall trust For departure from derision I beseech you if I must God give me some assurance That in time I will prevail God bless me with endurance In these times of no availhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/latish-sentiment/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/latish-sentiment/Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000I have not yet to this far world gave A fraction of the feelings I have found And sadly I will likely to the grave Rest in thoughts my words could not resound And yet I struggle daily to confide The wondrous things abound upon the day Tipping that deep basin kept inside To flood the land in my own weary way With all that I in blessing have been shown And all that I in spirit have conceived God’s…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/as-i-go/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/as-i-go/Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000In speaking to the tree a wasted word In time confiding in the stars above In flying through the sky beside the bird I gave to them a moment of my Love In watching that sweet sunset fall below In walking past the unbeknowing fern In spending time in silence as I go I lent to them compassion in returnhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/a-moment/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/a-moment/Tue, 08 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000In but a single piece of frozen time My eyes beheld a sight that could not be A moment cast forever in sublime A glimpse of what I’ve always longed to see I closed my eyes a second to be certain That on the other side was just as real As she that I have seen beneath the curtain Of a dream that seemed so perfect and surreal And when my eyes had opened in return From that unspoken magical domain…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sunlight/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sunlight/Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Sunlight take away from me All the things I have Give me all that you may deem Perfection cannot make me sad Strip the borders of my soul Thread the needle of my eye Give me that which makes me whole Adjust the rhythm of my mind And when it all is said and done And I have been set free I shall thank the sacred sun For giving life to mehttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/should-heaven-be-on-the-way/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/should-heaven-be-on-the-way/Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Should heaven be on the way At the passing of the stay At the breaking of the night Would you be in my sight? Should heaven be on the way At the turning of the bay At the sinking of the sea Would you belong to me? Should heaven be on the way At the closing of the day In the eden high above Would we still be in Love?https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/of-dreams/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/of-dreams/Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Be this light the light of dreams And none that shall compare Ever fell among the beams Or spoke unto the air Be this day the day of dreams And those yet to arrive In silence or in faded screams On this day will derive Be this night the night of dreams And all that passed before Fall into forgotten seams On far forsaken shores Be this girl the girl of dreams And time shall cease to be Night and…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/all-but-gone/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/all-but-gone/Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Without thinking, without blinking Is the feeling all but gone Is it burning, is it yearning To come out and sing its song And when it does will I have known That all that’s lost is lost for good And all that comes is better grown From all that’s lived and understood Or will it slip beneath my grip And sail forever on the wind Leaving only anguish on the lip Of he who stands where he beginshttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/where-must-one-man-go/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/where-must-one-man-go/Sun, 30 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Where must one man go To find the fairest falls How far the river flows How loud the mountain calls Where must one descend To find the lowest low How quick the seasons end How deep the canyons go Where must one arise To reach the highest high How bright the brightest skies How sad the saddest sigh And where in all of time Can be found the proper place For a lifetime of sublime An eternity of gracehttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/morning-washed-ashore/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/morning-washed-ashore/Mon, 24 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Clouds that gathered in the dark Amassed above the peak Withdraw their post without remark And fade unto the meek Tides that swell beneath the moon Bestowing seeds of pain Fall in shades of deep maroon Regressing with the rain Cold that billows in the shade Resurging from the past Feels the warmth of day pervade The murmur of the vast It matters not how black the night How dark the midnight shore…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/ill-tell-thee-why/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/ill-tell-thee-why/Sat, 22 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Why do I hurt? I’ll tell thee why For all the faded feelings I belie For all the coy confusions of the heart And all the sad impressions I impart Why do I cry? I’ll tell thee why To slay the beastly visions of my eye To liberate the demons of delight And free the wicked creatures of the night Why do I write? I’ll tell thee why To slay the surly savages awry To drown the haunting nightmares in my…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/achromatic-skies/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/achromatic-skies/Sat, 22 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Many moons have bound this heart To one unearthly star Fostered feelings in the light And cradled dreams afar Yet altered in the light of morn And scattered by the day Are moments lost in time forlorn Adrift in disarray Awaiting that untimely sleep Of sunlight’s daily chore For achromatic skies to keep Alive the nights before The daily dance of sun and moon Of seasons dark and light Of feelings…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/unfaltering-veneer/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/unfaltering-veneer/Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000All of my surroundings Shine like paint upon my skin Concealing all the secrecy That slumbers deep within All the world ever sees Is my unfaltering veneer Yet beneath the dry exterior Quite distant shores appear Whether sunlight falls or star I cannot seem to show The truth that I conceal The subtleties that flow Underneath the dour shadow That is blanketing the sky Is the purest form of sunlight…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/surfaces-that-show/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/surfaces-that-show/Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Far beyond the things I see Past what cannot be attained Lies to some obscure degree A feeling wholly unexplained Hidden under veils of care Safe behind a wall of grief Beauty lies quite unaware To those who live without belief And if they never think to look Beyond the surfaces that show Time will ever close the book On all that they could ever know Life will simply come and go Days will pass…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/notebook/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/notebook/Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000I could fill a notebook every day With all the things I hope to someday do All the places I would like to go And every girl that I pretend is you No place that I have been can quite compare To any place that I have yet to see And no girl that I have met is even close To what I’ve always visioned you to behttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/i-want-to-be/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/i-want-to-be/Tue, 18 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000I want to be the one you call When nothing seems to go your way I want to catch you when you fall And lift you from the disarray I want to be the perfect sight That steals your gentle breath away I want to shield you from the night And fill you with the light of day I want to be the endless spring That pushes winter back in time I want to be the one to bring A higher level of sublime I want to be…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sentries-on-a-distant-wing/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sentries-on-a-distant-wing/Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000Crawling on the jungle floor Inches from the wilted green Failing in the search for more Longing for the truth unseen Dragging on with battered limb Stretching out among the weeds Begging each to bring the end To all of life’s forsaken needs Watching as the trees go by Listening to whispers told Screaming out a silent cry For secrets lost in years of old Timeless suns and countless moons Sentries…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/below-the-blanket-sky/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/below-the-blanket-sky/Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000A cloud of darkened purple Sits above a sea of black Protecting all that lies beneath it Catching dust upon its back High above the colors fade From purple to a deep azure A perfect mix of every essence That the world has kept pure And far below the blanket sky Resting softly in the vast Lies a world undisturbed Yet forsaken just as fasthttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/a-drop-of-rain/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/a-drop-of-rain/Tue, 11 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000I can still remember the first time I saw a drop of rain fall from the sky I understood not why it must descend And wondered if the source was heaven’s eye But what would cause the sanctified to weep And who could be distressed upon the high For nothing where it lands could quite compare To the houses of the holy in the skyhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/this-distant-land/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/this-distant-land/Mon, 10 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000This distant land is new to me Yet sacred all the same The past is but a memory Where echoes call my name And far behind me lies a time When I could barely see When I could only halfway climb The smallest of the trees And I have seen a thousand years Pass by in disarray And watched the moon light fallen tears That grace the light of day And all are lost who disbelieve That time cannot be saved…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/i-wish/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/i-wish/Thu, 06 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000I wish I had control To take advantage of the days To find the ocean of my soul And ride a thousand different waves I wish I had the valor To release from this embrace And put the words that I empower In the actions that I chase I wish I had the wisdom Not to fear the things I learn And for once to find the courage Not to run from what I yearnhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/conjecture/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/conjecture/Thu, 06 Jan 2005 12:00:00 +0000A thousand days of wisdom Could not save me in the end And a lifetime of forgiveness Would not leave me on the mend So I wonder would it matter If the days laid front to back And the first step of the ladder Was the only one that cracked If I took the light of summer And lit the darkness in the night Would the words that echoed from her Sound much different in the light?https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sometimes/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/sometimes/Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:00:00 +0000Sometimes I think I forget Where it is and where it began The desert where the ocean sat The valley where the river ran And sometimes all I ever need Is the journey through it all Not to touch the grounded trees But simply listen as they fall And sometimes I think I was right And sometimes I just pray And maybe I just need the night To justify the dayhttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/secret-on-the-run/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/secret-on-the-run/Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:00:00 +0000I’ve said it all before a thousand times And waited for the stars to show concern I’ve practiced to the rain with no reply And whispered to the wind with no return It echoes through the heart of passing years And lives a secret life beneath my eyes It’s spoken to the ground through fallen tears And given to the night without disguise And yet without exception it will stay A solitary secret on the…https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/half-my-life/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/half-my-life/Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:00:00 +0000Half my life is spent on dreams Half trying to forget The sultry days amidst the beams Of suns before they set Half is wasted in the street Half inside the square Rushing madly to the beat Sad and silent in the chair Half consumed in daily fret Half on plans to be A congregation of regret A raft upon the seahttps://www.seanredenbaugh.com/third-window-from-the-right/https://www.seanredenbaugh.com/third-window-from-the-right/Tue, 30 Nov 2004 12:00:00 +0000As I am passing by below This perfect summer night I see her light is still aglow Third window from the right Calling me with silhouettes And touching me with grace Erasing all of my regrets With one look of her face She takes away my memories The future and the past And tosses me unto the seas To sink among the vast Tomorrow never seems to be And yesterday was not The present is eternity And now…