If you are
vacant of hope
Hope is vacant
of you

If you are
distant of spirit
Spirit
distant of you

If you are
absent of feeling
Feeling
absent of you

If you are
left without love
Love is left
— without you

(Rereading ‘Leaves Of Grass’: July, 2025)

The joker
in the deck
The jester
holding court
The witness
at my trial
The voice
— of time itself

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Downwind of the
Halal Cart
my stomach
starts to growl

Foreign smells
have filled the air
my appetite
to prowl

Those places
I have yet to go
but memory
knows so well

Another life
another time
where Heaven
— sleeps with Hell

(The Corner Of 34th & Market Streets: July, 2025)

Perpetual moments
the key
to existence
Memory
your biggest
foe

Blocking
the path
to future promise
Lapsing
forgetfulness
grows

Time an illusion
a crutch
for the weak
To hobble
and stumble
in constant retreat

This instant
recurring
when chosen at will
Where Poets
and Prophets
— forever instill

(Villanova University: July, 2025)

**** the spark
the fire dies
Mute one voice
and Poets cry

**** the larva
**** the host
Burn your bridges
— post by post

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

There’s gray
in my beard
but no gray
in my soul
Where Peter Pan
flies
Cherub’s wings
in control

My edges
though silver
my center
of gold
One glance
never tells you
what prescience
— beholds

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Writers write
everyone else
— just talks

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)