Is the fire escape of love
still open
does it go both up and down
will it rescue you from the flames
of possession
promising only exit
never refuge from the heat
is the iron railing molten
as you step out on the landing
is the air too hot to breathe
as you take that one look back
is the smoke
a cloud that follows
your feet melting into sorrow
is that voice you’re hearing through the blaze
—the love you’re running to or from

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

Does memory store from front to back,
or more like side to side

Do childhood dreams seem closer now,
than yesterdays goodbye

Does memory scorn all month and year,
a dimension of its own

Remembering best what matters most
—defying time enthroned

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

No test
no lesson to behold
life keeps kicking me
lower then low
a snow covered tent
deep in the woods
an old abandon barns
with a caved in roof
the cold follows me
as I aimlessly trek
in search of somewhere
I haven't tread yet

Too craven to take his own advice,
he stumbled over time

A distant echo of what he proclaimed
—an alien unrhymed

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)