Over the weekend, between work, playing shows, and making videos, I took time for something I’ve loved since I was a kid…fireworks. Denver may not have September fireworks often, but the Rockies are known for their incredible displays, even if their win record isn’t. I went to the game, soaking in the perfect early fall night and Oktoberfest downtown energy.
While filming, I met someone. A beautiful woman I joked and bantered with. Awkward as I am, I surprised myself by not fumbling the moment. I wanted to ask for her number, but I hesitated too long, and we went our separate ways. Later, I caught myself imagining the romcom version of what could’ve been.
That feeling turned into this poem “Never Had.” I recorded a voiceover, edited the video, and put it all together the minute I got home. Even though the story didn’t play out in real life, I got to capture it in words and film, which feels just as meaningful.
Yesterday carried a quiet, poetic calm. From the cool morning to the early sunset. I caught it in small moments…my commute to work, and later, an evening rain on the way to the gym. I edited the clips with music to capture that unexpected peace.
I played a concert Friday night and wrote this on my way home, while debating chasing another one night stand to fill my time or going home to an empty bed. I made a video and voiceover for it. It came out really noir, detective style. I dig it…watch it below:
Growing up in a small town right in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, we didn’t get a whole lot of “city life”. Perhaps that’s the reason I fell deeply in love with New York City, the architecture, and culture at a young age. If I’m being honest, the whole city environment in general always mesmerized…and still does.
Here below is the visual companion I made for a short poem about 9/11/01 and how it affected me. I also did the voiceover to bring it alive. After the video, I wrote and dove in more about the twin towers and NYC.
I was a freshman in high school when the events of 9/11 occurred. I was the kid that always turned on the morning news every day before school and remember turning on “Good Morning America” and seeing the smoke suffocate the Manhattan skyline. Of course, it being before school that morning there was chaos in getting ready and off to school. By the time I was headed to school the second plane had hit, and by my 2nd period German class…they were gone.
For years before the attack, I would go in the backyard of my parents and grandparents to build mini cities out of tree bark, boxes, random objects in the yard (anything really) and would imagine it being MY city and watching it grow. I would obsess about New York and the twin towers. There’s a scene at the start of “Home Alone 2” when Kevin gets to NY and visits the top of the twin towers that stands out in my memory as a huge core moment that planted the city love seed.
I remember I would rig up two different VCR’s, one in slow motion and one recording the WTC scene (this was before the internet made these things easily accessible) and I would rewatch it’s over and over again. This was years before the attacks…the towers and that city was a part of me long before. So that was a turning point in my young life and a huge reason why I moved to Brooklyn when I graduated. So September 11th will always hold that place in my heart.
A poem about a summer romance that felt so comfort, destined, and ill timed. I made the visual of it with scenes from “500 Day Of Summer”, one of my favorite romcoms.
It wasn’t just a season. It was us. Sarcastic jokes only we understood, nights where the bed became our universe, and every conversation felt endless. But time… time had other plans. The right person— just the wrong moment. We’re still here, just not the same here. Still- the smell of vanilla drifts back, summer rain tapping glass, reminding us what we had was real. A lost summer not forgotten, Just untouchable.
I previously posted about the series I’m doing on TikTok (links above) and here on the website. I didn’t update that post as often as I should’ve. So follow this post and I’ll keep it updated when I put new videos out. I’ll post ALL of them down below:
I’ve been a huge fan of horror since I was a kid. Watching horror movies on cable tv with my parents and just embracing the beautiful feeling and vibe fall & Halloween gives. So in honor of those horror movies I’ve watched, nightmares I’ve had, and real life experiences, I’ve been creating short videos ahead of spooky season. When in reality…it’s spooky season year round for me.
I wrote, filmed, and put the visual together on my commute to work this morning.
Waking up. Breeze through the window. The light rail moves loud The city Electric, untamed, endless. When you’re grateful, nothing is wasted. The world moves in rhythm. Every moment, a miracle.
I’m on the Long Island train Headed to Montauk to you. Tears hit like late spring rain, proof of what I already knew. New York, lonely at its best. I’m still gasping, overthinking, running out of breath. You’ve stolen my sanity, my rest. The skyline shrinks as I approach. We’ve survived our fall, but only barely like an unwatered black rose, forgotten in the hallway. Our goodbye short, unsweet. I gather my belongings, packed and neat. Off I go, back to Brooklyn, feeling like the only living boy in New York.
I previously posted this poem without much context and it may be confusing why there’s a poem and a picture of Emily (my ex) & I, on a video (like the crazy ex that just can’t let go…which isn’t the case) so I’ll give the cliff notes of this poems background and the video I remade for it.
In the spring of 2024 I was in the midst of a soul searching mission that always felt blocked. I randomly met a woman at work, as one does. I was invited to her sister’s birthday party at the CU Denver campus. Naturally awkward and randomly reserved minded I didn’t know what to do with myself when left alone at this place . Here’s an example of how I felt:
An actual picture of me at that party.
I had been there about an hour when I saw someone doom scrolling on her phone sitting on the couch in front of the living room window…an instant thought came into my mind “Totally out of my league”, but I had been in a growing stage in my life, (self growth books, “healing” movies, and romcoms) and recalled a quote from a Matt Damon movie:
“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”
That quote, a new found sense of “self” and my intuition; that feeling in my gut told me to just send it. Humor and personality are my strengths, so I started the conversation in this embarrassing matter (this isn’t verbatim):
“Hey, I’m pretty sure I’m out of YOUR league, but I’m tired of awkwardly standing alone so I’m awkwardly sitting here now to doom scroll as a team with you, my apologies”
It went something like that…one small giggle, a confused smile and that was our start. I’ve never met someone so intelligent, emotionally mature, goofy, and beautifully odd. The conversations were everything. Arguments weren’t arguments, they were short conversations to work through things and get to the root of things. We grew faster than most because of that. Understanding.
Without getting too deep into this rabbit hole. Some things happened last fall and I had to move back to Nebraska for a few months and we briefly took a break. Very brief…2 weeks. We talked a lot and I flew back here to Denver a few times a month. After a few months of doing that, I ended up back in Denver. We tried our best to avoid the elephant in the room.
Our life’s were going in separate directions. I re-enrolled in college here and she was graduating college and moving to Connecticut to begin her post grad journey. We were connected and are still close friends; but decided to let life take its course, separately. It was devastating for both of us but we still talk often and THAT is better than forcing something that could’ve ended on a bad note. I learned a lot from this and it gives me hope that the love I always crave is still out there…waiting. Occasionally that lonely, missing feeling comes to visit and if needed I can pick up the phone and call her….or write poems and videos like these below:
The type of beauty you didn’t think could exist
At least in my world
The world of self doubts
And unworldly bad luck
The type you suffer through hours of terrible karaoke at an undersized dive bar off broadway
Just to spent every second absorbing the colors of her eyes and making every cheesy joke to see her smile again
Inhaling her scent to savor and save for the times she’s not near. Because even in her absence that aroma creeps up like a flash flood coming to wash me away
The type that’s across the country, her beauty a memory to relive. Right here…yet out of reach
You forget sometimes, don’t you?
That you’ve walked through endings
and built yourself new beginnings.
That every scar is proof you made it.
So if your light feels faint
remember: the sun always rises,
and you were born with fire inside.
I wrote this poem about a man that is losing his grip on reality and thinks that there are people in the world watching and following him. In the end it turns out that there were people watching him. Or were they? Perhaps he just finally went off the deep end. I made a video with visuals below too. Follow my TikTok: @newdrivehomejoe
Rain drips from fire escapes, puddles spell words he can’t ignore. Posters curl and tear like whispered warnings. Shadows stretch too close, strangers move like masks. He shakes his head maybe he’s imagining it. But the city moves in rhythm, one echo at a time. They’re watching. Waiting. And finally… he was right.
Short Poem called, “Night Air” and the video for it below:
Night folds around me, the city hums beneath my feet. Shadows curve and stretch along the pavement, the air thick with quiet possibility. I move with it, sensing something unseen, guiding me forward.
Newdrivehome 