The chosen
tone deaf
to their fortune

Musicians
their heads
in the sand

The roadies
eat pizza
still frozen

While Angels
play bass
in the band

Indulgence
the pick
on their fretboard

Entranced
by the lure
of the ****

Benighted
the riffs
play without them

Not going
or coming
— just gone

(The New Room: March, 2024)

The Poet of Las Vegas Boulevard
steals emotion from the night

Holding a vigil in the darkness
waiting for the light

The Poet of Las Vegas Boulevard
among the screams and homeless cries

Making rhyme of what reason has abandoned
—marking time inside the shadow of lies

(Las Vegas Boulevard: January 24, 2016)

A thousand answers
one last question
— why

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)

You can’t close the door
that opens inside
Or bottle the morrow
today seeks to hide
You can’t erase feelings
like words on a page
Or trap a new lover
— with yesterday’s cage

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)

That voice
from the wilderness
Nearer
than far
Close distant
reminder
We are
— who we are

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)


Looking Back

One final look
one final stare
The face looking back
the face of despair
One final time
one final shout
Reflection an echo
— reflection a rout

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)


Jumping The Shark

You can’t time a moment
by counting out loud
Or cross the horizon
not leaving the crowd
Or relive a memory
retention unclear
Or keep the Muse captive
— as silence draws near

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)

Spitting into the ocean
hoping it would rise
Wrapped in the flag of tomorrow’s retreat
the past and its minions reprise
One more straw on the hay pile
not worth a tinker’s ****
Wishing and hoping with my last breath
to free the words
— I am

(Dreamsleep: March, 2024)

Apocalypse kindles    
relighting the fire
Malignant denominators
melt from above
Savior disdained
pontificate’s stain
Tomorrow endemic
— in nuclear love

(The New Room: March, 2024)