My slanguage
keeps the fire hot
my feet against the coals

My slanguage
what the critics hate
new venom to extol

My slanguage
whether read or sung
its message still the same

My slanguage
seeding my rebirth
— lost within the rain

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)

Painfully beautiful ...
oxymoronic
The quiet so loud
— all parameters die

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)

Writing
is but
an escape
for the soul

Freeing
our passions
making
— us whole

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)

He stood by
my cradle
And followed
my hearse
Unlocking
two portals
Both blessing
— and curse

(Dreamsleep: November, 2024)

Today
I decided
not to rhyme

The words
in volleys
poorly formed

Predicates
outcast
covers smashed

Their accents
bouncing
meanings lost

Today
I decided
not to rhyme

Appeasing
some
beyond the fence

Connections
broken
  phrases served

Playing tennis
without
— a net

(The New Room: November, 2024)

Reaching into the
public consciousness
the words were given free

Blowing fresh holes
through blind consensus
nothing there to see

Reaching into
the common anthem
selling out for fate

Lost in the current
of tomorrow’s maelstrom
— passing heaven’s gate

(The New Room: November, 2024)

We couldn’t survive
each to the other
We couldn’t let go
to live
We couldn’t give
without retaking
We couldn’t express
what we felt
We couldn’t stay quiet
when being together
We couldn’t come back
from the past
We couldn’t forgive
what time had rescinded
We couldn’t remember
— to forget

(Woodstock: Summer, 1969)