The Poet
To write for the love of writing
Hello, and thanks for subscribing. I’ve been tooling away at this particular incarnation of my online presence for almost a year now, and I am finally beginning to find my way through a maze of best practices and the din of conforming formats. I signed up for this platform to pursue my writing, and suddenly found myself answering to the application’s expectations rather than asking the questions. The intentions were right, but the initial steps felt misaligned, and soon, it was difficult to recognize myself in the process. I’ve never been interested in doing what I should do; I’m compelled only by what I want to do: to write for the love of writing. So, I begin again.
I’ve weighed the options of paid versus free content, and ultimately believe that the time, energy, and care I put into my writing has value. Lately, I’ve been deeply immersed in a memoir about my life in skateboarding—a project I once planned to keep separate from my work online. However, after exposing my ideas to the opinions of the publishing world, I decided to chart my own course, and I will start sharing these writings here very soon. By inviting readers who appreciate my writing to become paid subscribers, I can maintain creative freedom and deliver my work directly to you—unfiltered by tastemakers or gatekeepers.
I deeply appreciate everyone who has supported me so far—your encouragement means a great deal. Moving forward, most new and previous posts will be behind a paywall. There will still be occasional public posts, but those will become less frequent. To make support more accessible, I’ve lowered the paid subscription to $5.00 per month and the Founding Member tier to $150.00.
The new paid subscription options break down like this:
$5.00 monthly
$50.00 yearly
$150.00 Founding Member
As a paid subscriber, you’ll get full access to:
My Memoir (Coming Soon):
Chapter sketches from my personal memoirs.My Journal:
Ongoing entries from my personal journal.DRIVE Revisited (Coming Soon):
An in-depth exploration of the original award-winning documentary film and its three-season series on Fuel TV, featuring new insights and behind-the-scenes stories.My Scrapbook:
Stories paired with a curated collection of over 200 photographs—including magazine clippings, candid snapshots, and treasured mementos—gathered over more than forty years of skateboarding.Skateboard Poems:
Who writes skateboard poems? I do. Like this one, below.My Notebook:
A place for additional writings, news updates, photos, and videos.
I’m excited to share all of this with you, and I’m grateful for your support in making it possible.
Thank you.
The Poet
The first time I saw him,
He appeared like an apparition,
Floating through the parking lot.
Mythological, untouchable.
His limbs like paintbrushes,
His board, a puppet on invisible strings.
He invited me to join him in a jam session.
He carried me in his rhythmic intensity.
I felt his radiation.
The second time I saw him,
He carved a maze through concrete,
And dared me to follow him.
I took to the path resolutely.
Whenever I lost the trail,
He would reappear and impel me onward.
I felt privileged to dance in his wake,
To study his choreography,
To train in his corner.
The third time I saw him,
The weather changed.
New pedestals were erected.
He mocked the passing storm with indifference.
He tuned down so low—no one could follow.
When others became frustrated and confused,
I paid close attention.
I knew I was in the presence of a genius.
The fourth time I saw him,
We became friends.
He opened his world to me,
And let me hang out where no one could belong.
He lived on the edge of everything,
Beyond category,
Inspiring me daily,
Writing the future with each breath.
The fifth time I saw him,
We were both survivors of something.
He was gracious to my wife and daughter,
But his eyes were still wild.
We stood together in some new arena
And I thanked him.
I thanked him for what was,
I thanked him for what is,
I thanked him for what will be.
He is the poet who wrote our masterpiece.