Terry Ofner, Musician and Poet

By Diane Findlay, Submitted September, 2023

Many of my early memories as a seeker and new believer involve Terry Ofner, strumming his guitar and singing at firesides at the home of Claudia & Hank Ryan in 1975–76. Terry seemed quiet and unassuming, but was always ready with a song or an insight at Bahá’í gatherings. As time went on, I learned that Terry is also an accomplished poet. In 2000, Terry and his wife Susan and their children moved to Indiana. But to this day Terry serves and teaches through music and poetry. He’s had nearly thirty poems published, including five in WORLD ORDER. Here’s one of those, from Spring/Summer 1987:

COMING HOME, TANGLEFOOT LANE

The farm on Tanglefoot is abandoned

and no longer adds up to what it is.

The lower branches are missing

from the windbreak.

A dish towel rots on the line.

What sunlight there is

fingers through the outbuildings

but their shadows

never quite reach the ground.

The farmer could come back to this place,

walk into the house,

look up through the rafters,

up past what is left of the roof,

and hunger for the feel of something heavy

in his hand like a hammer.

But there is too much light inside.

He cannot come back.

Not if his shadow doesn’t work anymore,

not if the roof caves in

and weeds grow up through the dry heart

of the furnace.

Not if the dark and heavy things

of his life, like rain,

look for low places

in the ground.

If you are interested in reading more of Terry’s writing, visit https://terryofner.com/publishing-history/.