R.M. ENGELHARDT

Poet Writer Author Albany NY

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R.M. Engelhardt is an American poet, writer and author who over the last three decades has published over 20 books of poetry including “Nod” “Alchemy” DarkLands, RAW & “The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt. The founder of the Upstate NY organization ALBANY POETS & the Annual Poetry Celebration THE ALBANY WORD FEST he has through his ideas & visions helped to contribute a large amount of advocacy and creativity to the Spoken Word~Poetry Capital District scene and is the former host of the long running readings The School of Night & Vox. He is currently the host of SPEAK THE WORD ALBANY!. An Open Mic for Poetry And The Spoken Word at Ophelias. Over the last thirty years his work has also been published in many journals such as The Rye Whiskey Review, Red Fez, Rusty Truck, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, Thunder Sandwich, Black Noise, The Hobo Camp Review, Full of Crow, on the Outlaw Poetry Network & in many many others. Look for his books “WHERE THE PEOPLE’S VISION PERISHES 2020” “DARK LANDS (2019 on LuLu, Amazon & At Barnes and Noble) The Resurrection Waltz, 2012 ( Infinity Press) & “COFFEE ASS BLUES & OTHER POEMS” ( 2018 Alien Buddha Press 2018) ” DarkLands” 2019 & “Where There Is No Vision” 2020, “WE RISE LIKE SMOKE” (2021) & Of Spirit, Ash & Bone (2022) and RAW- Poems ( 2023) all available on Amazon.com He is also the Editor of the small independent poetry press Dead Man’s Press Ink since 1998. Look for his books The Bones of Our Existence A Journal 2046 & his new books THE DYING TIME POEMS BY R.M. Engelhardt 2026 & NO KINGS 2025 available at Barnes & Noble and currently on Amazon. www.gentlemanoutsider.com *All Poems, Writings & Information Contained On This Blog Are The Property & Owned By The Author R.M. Engelhardt. © 2026 www.rmengelhardt.com

  • To Be Old & Bitter

    TO BE OLD & BITTER

    It is never said
    Was never said

    That once
    When we were young &
    The future would come

    Stumbling in
    Like a KKK member drunk
    On a Friday night
    Binge

    Lacking trust like
    Believing in pathetic
    Idiots like Donald Trump
    & Elon Musk

    Dying poor
    Old & Bitter because
    Some racists let the
    Thieves, murderers
    And con men
    in the door

    Through the door

    Who stole our money
    And our lives, years of
    Hard earned work

    And our lives?

    And in the future?

    Long after we’re
    All dead & gone

    They will blame our
    Entire generation
    Because of the fire we lived in

    Walked in

    Even though we bravely
    Stood up against hatred, rich
    Little pigs & Nazi scum

    They will see us as the
    Generation that did nothing

    Said nothing

    The generation
    That took democracy
    And freedom, human rights
    Away

    As we, the opposers
    In our time died old
    In other countries &
    Prisons

    With our voices
    Our humanity
    Our pride and our countries stories that once
    Spread the real truth for all & everyone
    Black, White, Latino &
    Native American

    Banned
    Censored
    And destroyed

    By psychopaths
    And traitors

    Who killed
    The American Dream

    And gave it over
    To the corporations
    And the white supremacists
    Cowards & fake religious
    Billionaires

    Who looked down upon
    Us

    Like peasants
    To serve them loyally

    Like slaves

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt © 2025

    http://www.gentlemanoutsider.com
  • MALEVOLENCE

    MALEVOLENCE

    MALEVOLENCE

    1.

    The enemy comes
    To you as a messiah
    A champion of the people

    2.

    He is the viper
    The rapist, the killer
    The enemy
    Of democracy

    A cancer
    A disease

    Malevolent

    Twisted

    Sick

    1. And what does the good surgeon
      Do when the cancer, the tumor
      Starts to spread ? To save a nation
      To save the patient?
      To save the world?

    4.

    He cuts it , tears it out brutally
    Without mercy
    Ends it’s mindless existence
    To stop the evil parasite
    To stop it from growing
    To save the life of
    Every citizen
    Every child
    Every family and
    Every hate

    From spreading

    5.

    And then,
    Once more
    The healing starts,

    Begins

    As the patient soundly
    Sleeps

    Knowing their life has
    Finally been saved

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt
    ©2025

  • The Re-Release of The Bones Of Our Existence, A JOURNAL 2046 By R.M. Engelhardt

    The New Paperback Edition of ” The Bones Of Our Existence, A Journal 2046″ Has Been Released.

    Pick Up Your Copy Today !

    In 100 years, or well maybe even fifty. After we’ve thrown Trump and his fellow criminals out of office and into prison cells history in this time period is going to most likely blame social media and advertising for our current situation. It will be referred to as a time when our constitution was under attack and the wiser Americans defended it. It will view social media as brainwashing, causing disagreement, racism, hate and violence. Laws will be put into place to further protect all our rights and institutions, our planet and children. But the ridiculous part is most likely America will ignore and simply move forward ignoring the reasons why Trump so appealed to a number of backwards, greedy rich and or uneducated people simply saying that it was social media to blame. Sadly, and eventually, as education and technology prevails the descendants of those people will easily use this blame theory forgiving their ancestors as an excuse. Why? Because that will be far easier to stomach than the truth.

    Ignorance is Bliss

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt

  • An American Dirge

    An American Dirge

    AN AMERICAN DIRGE

    In The Last Light
    The Dusk

    America
    Has Fallen

    With the Hush
    Of Fear

    From Monsters

    Who Were Never

    True Men

    But We Shall Rise

    Again

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt ©2025

  • A Wise Man

    A Wise Man

    A wise man fears three things: a sea under a storm, a moonless night, and the anger of a kind man.

    Be wise.

  • Life

    Life

    “Whatever happens, stay alive. Don’t die before you’re dead. Don’t lose yourself, don’t lose hope, don’t loose direction.

    Stay alive, with yourself, with every cell of your body, with every fiber of your skin. 

    Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.

    Stay alive, stay alive inside you, stay alive also outside, fill yourself with colors of the world, fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.

    Stay alive with joy. 

    There is only one thing you should not waste in life, and that’s life itself.”

    ~Virginia Woolf

  • Solstice

    Solstice

  • YOU ARE NOT STANDING ALONE

    YOU ARE NOT STANDING ALONE

    There was a time
    When you were a child
    That you believed that
    Monsters existed

    They hid in your closet
    Your basement

    But now?

    The world is a different place
    Because the monsters were
    All hiding right out there in public

    And they have done things
    Said things to make you feel afraid
    To scare you into surrendering or
    Giving up

    Monsters full of hatred
    Monsters full of racism
    Monsters lying about how
    They even worship God

    But don’t

    Never have

    Because these monsters only worship
    Money and they eat people’s
    Lives, souls, decimate them and take
    Everything they have

    Including freedom
    Including their rights

    But that is all going to change

    Because you see
    We are all stronger, better
    Human beings then they are

    And we all stand together
    And shine the light where the
    Monsters live, expose them
    And make them all powerless,
    Weak, like they truly are

    We standing
    All together make the
    Ugly monsters go away

    Send them, back to oblivion
    Send them, back to hell

    Why?

    Because we are legion
    We are democracy
    We are a force that cannot
    And can never be

    Stopped

    So if you are afraid?

    Know this:

    That you are not
    Standing Alone

    And never will be

    ~ R.M.Engelhardt
    ©2024

  • This Mortal Coil, Thanksgiving

    This Mortal Coil is all we have.

    The idea of the Thanksgiving Holiday these days seems to have lost it’s meaning. Maybe it’s time we take a look into that and reflect.

    For most? It’s just another day off from work and seems to revolve around food & eating more than it’s intended purpose. Honestly it no longer has anything to do with Indigenous People’s, Pilgrims or Native Americans. If anything, especially now in this year these times in 2024 perhaps we should realize that it’s meaning has now evolved into something even more meaningful. Friends, Family And still being alive. It’s now a time to remember all those we’ve lost & all those we still are here with safe and out of harm’s reach.

    Life is short. And none of us live forever.
    So take this day, this time and now reflect upon those things. And as the poem says

    ” Be Thankful”.

    THIS MORTAL COIL

    The rain
    Falls, will
    Always fall
    No matter
    What season

    No matter
    What you do

    We all
    Have our
    Good days
    Our bad days
    Some, better
    Or worse
    Than others

    But the bonds
    That have made
    You, made me
    Made us are
    Much stronger
    Than all that

    Through love
    Through hell
    Through blood
    Through tears

    Brother Sister
    Father Mother
    Wife

    Sons
    Daughters

    The line

    This
    Mortal Coil
    That makes
    Us all family
    Friends

    And that
    Is the reason
    Why we stay
    And we fight

    Stay until
    It’s our time
    To pass down these
    Words onto
    Others

    Who would
    Give us hope
    And light

    Who oneday will
    Pass it on
    To their
    Children
    As well

    This Mortal
    Coil that
    Makes us
    Human

    Be Thankful

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt
    ©2020

  • God Has Been Banned

    God Has Been Banned

    God Has Been Banned

    GOD HAS BEEN BANNED 

    As a kid 

    I once had an 

    Imaginary friend

    Named God who

    Always walked beside 

    Me 

    But now?

    He’s nowhere to

    Be found

    Because 

    He bailed out

    A longtime ago saying

    I’m getting really 

    Sick of all this shit

    And I really can’t 

    Say I blame him

    Because he’s ashamed 

    He’s been defiled 

    Embarrassed 

    Because there’s 

    Pictures  allover 

    Social media of him

    With this fat pathetic orange 

    Bastard pretending 

    To be his friend 

    His savior 

    That God 

    Wants no part of

    Because it

    Never happened 

    And never will

    And it’s bad enough 

    That his own kid 

    Lucifer is on their 

    Team 

    Helping them to

    Create lies 

    Harm immigrants 

    Harm children 

    Saying things

    That make all the

    Other human beings he

    Created 

    Meaningless 

    Worthless

    Dead

    And it’s all pretty 

    Sad because God &

    I lost touch , had a falling 

    Out 

    Many years ago

    But he recently 

    Contacted me by email

    And said ” Hey? How are you?”

    I’m sorry that I left

    I had some business 

    To take care of

    But now?

     I’m back

    So I called him up

    And we went out for a couple 

    Of beers

    Got drunk

    Relived all our

    Memories of times

    Past

    Good & bad

    And cried

    A little because of

    The state of things

    Now

    And then God

    Said :

    Y’know 

    I’m done with 

    These billionaires 

    And stupid ass clowns 

    So expect a few

    Surprises in the next

    Four years

    Project 25 

    My Ass !

    He said

    And then as

    We both left 

    The bar laughing 

    He smiled and said

    C’mon, this is getting fun!

    Snapped his fingers

    And made Trump shit 

    His pants

    Again

    ~ R.M. Engelhardt ©2024