Who do you call
when there’s nothing to share
How do you act
with tomorrow unfair

What do you dream
when your sleep is deprived
Why are the questions
though answered, contrived

When did your wonder
wander away
When did the path
eternally stray

How did the moment
slip over the line
How will you tell me
— your memory gone blind

(North Wales Pennsylvania: January, 2024)

I remember the day
you borrowed my pain
“Take it,” I told you
no need to explain

It’s shopworn and battered
each scar duly earned
Its weight a true burden
of prophecy spurned

Then when you’ve finished
the torture complete
Find a new soul
to will it discrete

But no matter what happens
or how much you cry
This loan is forever
—forever goodbye

(Haverford College: January, 2024)

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)