Wagner's Writings

     Another month down and here we are, February's down with all stories on time and intact! A cool detail I'm noticing is that stories are slowly getting longer and longer. I started off in the 100 - 300 word range and now they're slowly creeping in the 500 - 1,000 word range. It's been quite nice getting comfy back into writing prose again. It's a habit I always think I lose when I venture off to do screenplays, poems, or other work. So it's a relief to know it's just a muscle that needs to be reworked and not something that can be lost. Knock on wood, but it's been a great start! Thanks for clicking on my blog, thank you for reading. It means a lot. #5: Perfect Blue Building Again, I was waiting on the sidewalk near a blue building that she liked. A ‘perfect blue building’ she’d always call it. Anytime we’d go on our frequent walks, she’d point it out. I grew to like it too.  Things changed not too long ago. I’d stand at our spot, waiting for her, b...

  So I think 2023 will finally be the year I do this challenge that Ray Bradbury set up: 52 stories in 52 weeks. Then you have 52 stories in one year because "Not all 52 can be bad." So here is all the January stories! One month down, eleven more to go!  #1: "Moving Out"  The last box of the move has been gently placed down on the floor. It wasn’t an easy move, but it wasn’t one done in solitude. Your few good friends from high school that stuck around town came down for the form payment they saw fit for helping an old friend out. Pizza and beer can go a long way the more you realize in dire situations. They toss the empty 24-pack and ditch the pizza boxes in the trash after a quick two-hour trip down memory lane of the glory days. We really outta hang out more. If only our schedules aligned more. That new gig have better hours? Better than where you were, you thought. They leave you with a pat on the back, smiles on their faces, grease on their shirts. You don’t se...

      It was the summer of good ol' '22 that I learned a valuable lesson: Happiness is not at the bottom of an empty bottle.      I haven't done a blog post in a hot minute. It's been a busy summer... Busy year. Thought I would change that now that I hit a milestone I kind of kept close to my chest. November 22nd marks the 100th day I maintained sobriety from alcohol. On August 14th, I awoke from a heavy night of drinking the day before and I was told of the trouble I had caused a friend and the mess I had made in their house. And I couldn't remember a damn minute of it. But I'll paint a pretty picture with the details I do recall and that summer leading up to it.      There's this problem I have/had regarding alcohol, is that when I start drinking for the night I really have a hard time stopping or knowing when I've had enough. Binge drinking just seemed so fun because feeling all loopy and silly felt amazing because in my day to day life,I ...

    With my book being out for nearly three weeks at this point, I thought it'd be fun to talk about each of them, what inspired them, facts surrounding the poems/book in general. It's not too late to snag a copy! Just contact me for one and I'll either deliver it or mail it to ya. $5 is all I ask, friends. So let's begin.  ISOLATIONIST - So the title itself is a reference to when someone believes a country doesn't allow any visitors or intervention of Japan would seclude itself off from the rest of the world from 1603 - 1868, also known as Sakoku. I was reading up on the subject during lockdown when I came across that term 'isolationist'.       It felt like an appropriate term even before the lockdowns started because I felt I was unhealthily becoming a recluse and not really interacting with people like I used to. I was isolating myself from everyone because I didn't want the heaviness of my depression to bum my friends out. That's been an ongoing ...

     So ISOLATIONIST has been out for two weeks already. Hard to believe since it's felt like it JUST came out. You want to know something insane?? I've made enough funds from the book to not only fund the next one BUT it completely funded the NEXT project I have in mind after that (whichever one that may be). If all goes to the way I'd like it to, I'd LOVE for it to be a comic book project. Alas, I am not the captain that is steering my destiny. I just ride where the wind guides the sails, y'know?      But the reception has been completely beyond my expectations. Lots of greats feedback, people sharing their thoughts on their favorite poems, what they got out of it, and lots of other positive things. But nearly. Every. Single. Person. Had said the exact same thing to me regarding my mini-adventure and this book:       That they're proud of me.       Proud that I did it. That I'm going out of my way to chase my dreams...

ISOLATIONIST Poems by Cody Wagner DEDICATED TO Richard “Richie” Wagner,  Brian Guile,  and Ryan Newcomb; Those that encouraged me to chase my dreams  but are no longer here. And to those still here, cheering me on Thank you, dearly.  You inspire me to keep chasing. "All Eyes Pierce"  All eyes pierce me with their indifference. I once viewed crowds as a sickness  to steer clear of to avoid infection. Their affection falsified,  Only as a guise to mask their discontent  and the bile spewing from putrid mouths, To avoid the biting down of venomous fangs. I made it a point to section myself off,  To not be bothered,  To avoid the hurt of their dagger-filled glances. But their second chances have ran out after one too many times.  Now they look to me no longer. They themselves can't bother with the idea of me. Me, just out in the open. Me, pushed to the side. Just me.  Alone.  Forgotten.  “Overstay”  I do not wish to ...