Judging opinions
by their age
proscriptions
lie in wait

Consensus stained
with fear and guilt
folly
overstates

Knowledge of others
unknown to self
deception points
one way

Value weighed
in layers of dust
the truth held
—far at bay

(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Nowhere
ain’t nowhere
when it’s where
— you belong

(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Conscripting my dreams
attacking my doubts

Each wish is a soldier
whose loyalty shouts

Enlisting new feelings
with hope as my guide

A liege to the future
— where time will abide


(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Holding on tight
to each moment before

The test results come
forever unsure

Reprieved for a day
condition unchanged

“Your numbers are stable
— but cancer remains”


(Ronald McDonald House: Phila. Pa, October, 2024)

Someone
lost in a meandering season

Somebody
crying for all the wrong reasons

Somehow
married to a new in between

Someway
missing what others have seen

Someplace
the meaning stays hidden and waits

Sometimes
my wishes both early and late

Something
infused in the moments I’ve lost

Somewhere
abandoned — the ultimate cost


(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Angel of the streets
demon in the fortress
Darkness hides the garden
Grace a fallen wish

Voices in the alley
pleadings last communion
Wings that fight to open
— fire on the wind

(The New Room: October, 2024)

Being what he was
— he’d already been

(Dreamsleep: September, 2024)