Money buys
freedom
when blood’s
overdrawn
Reality’s
greed
destiny
pawns

Money buys
freedom
its truth
to bemoan
Dignity
truant
the future
— on loan

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

To drink
from my well
you
first must believe
Each cup
that I proffer
permission
received
The fuller
your bucket
the stronger
your vow
Each word
that you ladle
rebaptized
— aloud

(The Radnor House: January, 2024)

I’m a poet devoid
of Cliff Notes
dissection
not my thing

Don’t ask me
to explain my words
I’d rather hum
and sing

Explication
penniless
in ghettos
of the word

Where vagrants
pull and tear apart
what only should
— be heard

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: January, 2024)

Avoid needless
complexity
Say it
straight out

Frost and
then Hemingway
Set the rules
down

Between meaning
and verbiage
The idea
is king

Sharpen
the point
The message
— the thing

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: January, 2024)

When you find your true voice
marry it
— never to divorce

(Deamsleep: January, 2024)

Show me a man
without a dream

And I’ll show you
— no man at all

(James River Writer's Conference: October, 2016)

I have zero regard
for structure and form
if the words as written work
A poetic outlaw
to ruled acceptance
in search of what may lurk
Critics and enemies
seed the cloud
that overflows with spite
To rain upon  
my chosen path
— of radical delight

(Bryn Mawr College: January, 2024)