I wonder if I undressed my soul
Step out of my skin
Stand here bare
On this earth
Without face
Without flesh

I wonder how many people
Would recognize me

Would anyone find me
With only my naked voice  
As it speaks its suffering

Would anyone find me
With only my cries, my wishes
With only my prayers, my love
And my naked soul
As navigation?

I wonder who would be brave
And bold enough
To find the soul
Of a man
Without a face.

Two different people
or
Too different people
How is one to know?

How do you balance
the kind and the cruel

The good and the bad
of life’s golden rule

As reason pulls tightly,
treason pulls back

Living in conflict,
together intact

Tragic, comedic,
while often as both

Angels and Demons
commingle betrothed

A savior, destroyer,
calling our name

A garden of riches
—caught in the flames

(Haverford College: February, 2021)

She starts up her motors,
Revs me til I purr,
She spins up her rotors,
I'm always dizzy for her.

She checks the gauges twice,
I'm waiting and ready for flight,
Fuel, heat, pressure: Optimal, nice,
The plan is for speed and for height.

She glances back with a stewardess smile,
I shrug into my costume, a bombardiers coat,
She checks my seatbelt, no trace of guile,
So sweet, she wouldn't want it to chafe around my throat.

Perfect piloting, not a cloud in sight, no turbulence at all,
She's the only one with a 'chute, but I know we won't fall.
We're cruisin' along smoothly as we hit the target altitude,
Over the intercom, "If you love me, hit the big red button, dude!"

Sudden direction change, same speed but straight down,
What once was blue sky is now onrushing ground.
Her skills are legend, she could drop me on a dime,
She knows right where I'll land, and I climb aboard every time.