With children
a house becomes alive
Without them
an empty shell
With children
new moments of joy arrive
Without them
an unringing bell

With children
laughter stays in the air
Without them
but memories dwell
With children
the years to age unimpaired
Without them
— all magic is quelled

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

The emptiness of
possibility
One hand clapping
— in the wind

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

I’m not going to
watch you leave
but I’ll revel in the fact
you’re gone ...
I’m not going to say
goodbye
while I bask in the silence
heard ...
I’m not going to speak
your name
but I’ll covet what stays
unsaid ...
I’m not going to return
your love
while throwing our tryst
— to the wind

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

Humanity
comes before
the fact
Sentimentality
comes
after
One steeped
in joy
the other remorse
To shout from
the basement
— or rafters

(The New Room: August, 2025)

The last curtain came down
one evening at nine
its drapery falling
to signal ‘it’s time’
The theater dark
all stagehands have gone
alone in her presence
my final swan song
The exit door opens
a new crowd appears
applauding me onward
past laughter and tears
With one final bow
but never so sure
eternity clapping
— forever’s encore

(The Bryn Mawr Theater: August, 2025)

Stay in the
moment
Time but
a myth
Capture
the essence
Whose instant
encrypts

The truth
of the matter
The heart
of it all
Where feelings
explode
In prescience
— recalled

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

A master of time
the true lord of himself
Eternity on hold
the moment indwelt

The world at his beckon
tomorrow recalled
This instant his present
— forever enthralled

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)