As we age
death
reclaims us
Stealing
our youth
and then our hope

In the ground
where
memories rot
Willing us
nothing
—but the dark

(Dreamsleep: August, 2023)

Betrothed
to the moment
Estranged from
the future
Present
to marry
All time
— an affaire

(Dreamsleep: April, 2025)

Someday to write
the greatest poem
The most powerful words
forever to hear

Someday to write
the moment solemn
Where time will stop counting
— and prescience endears

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)

How much profit
have you made
on your greed

The bursar
of hell
wants to know

How has your
avarice
lived unrestrained

A glutton
those starving
in tow

How many times
have you dealt
from the bottom

Betting
the players
were blind

Sleeving that ace
that sends
you to hell

In debt
to the devil
—consigned

(Villanova University: November, 2023)

Before there was light
before there was sound
Gravity wandered
the universe round

Plotting the orbits
of things still to come
Spacing the essence
of all zero-sum

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

The Muse more than my mistress,
the Muse more than my friend

The Muse more than a guardian,
the Muse my blood within

She no longer comes to visit,
she only comes to stay

Each wish I make, each word I write
—within her breath I pray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

The present is in your future,
the present in your past
The present a sacred mystery,
its moment to unmask
The present is in your memory,
the present in your dreams
The present neither begins nor ends
—eternity set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)

There will come a time
when the poem you’re writing
surpasses all the others

Inscribed in your psyche
alive in your memory
—transformed and redefined

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

Self-analysis…
a balancing act
on the edge of disaster

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

In most things a fledgling
to some degree
A novice at love
and what’s not to be
Indentured forever
beyond my leave
And only an expert
—at being me

(The New Room: June, 2021)

The politics of religion,
its statues on fire
All martyred saints burning
in canonized pyre

As cardinals of vengeance
seek new hearts to be ******
Inquisitors ramble,
the Creator on loan

The religion of politics,
papal decrees
Guilt laden promises,
salvationists fee

Crusaders on horseback,
twelve Apostles alone
Which is more dangerous,
the Word or the throne

(Chorus)

“Raise the curtain—praise the Lord,
  darkness censures fast
Faith though blind, still hope to find,
beyond iconoclasts

“With eyes wide open, see the light,
all else to render lies
His love unending, given free,
eternal life the prize”


(The New Room: April, 2022)

Within this structure,
my words remain
Each line a fortress,
as thoughts refrain

The ramparts solid,
its moat retracts
All quivers loaded,
as doubt attacks

The enemy constant,
assault on fire
What darkness births,
one phrase retires

The battle spoken
upon the wind
My legend written
—still safe within

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)

In their formative
moments
artists live alone
Sharing themselves
only when
the pain has dulled

In corners
of dark musings  
their spirit’s hide
Calling out  
whenever the lights go down
— and the rush is gone

(The New Room: May, 2025)

Little streams
make bigger rivers

Words unspoken
hide the truth

Where you start
is where you’ll finish

Fate embedded
—at the root

(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)

All my friends are
virtual online
Arms-length fraternal,
distance sublime
Safe in my cave,
with cursor in hand
Downloading affection
—beyond all demand

(The New Room: April, 2021)

From the Devil’s stable,
I picked the fastest stallion

And rode beyond perdition
—through eternity’s flames

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)

Reincarnation
eternity’s myth
You’re incarnated
only once
Though many transitions
are stamped with time’s pretense
As it was in the beginning
— it will be at the end

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)

Am I at all responsible,
  for what occurs outside myself

Is it at all defensible,
  to ignore those feelings dealt

Is my world then co-dependent,
  on what happens somewhere else

Are the answers free to self-sustain,
  or conjoined—by others felt

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: June, 2019)

One day beyond mourning, a new sun to shine
a promise remade—not a cloud in the sky

One day beyond mourning, your spirit still warm
your flesh now at rest—on the hill past the barn

One day beyond mourning, the bed sheets unfold
your shadow uncovered—and now mine to hold

One day beyond mourning, the sun in my eyes
  new words in my heart—a mockingbird cries

One day beyond mourning, my soul free to roam
  your paintings surround me—among them I’m home

One day beyond mourning, I walk to the field
our blanket still hanging—the oak that concealed

One day beyond mourning, I reset my sights
  the day I’ll rejoin you—that heavenly flight

One day beyond mourning, all will broken free
  my name on the wind—as you call out to me

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

Its flow an accordion,
to stretch and compress
A double delusion,
old memory suppressed
New moments upon us,
the instant revealed
Time claiming them all
—redundant concealed

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)

80/20
20/80
2+2 is 4

You’re part way in
you’re part way out
half full till something more

The middle of the center
the jesters
hidden lore

Dimension plays
one last charade
—to even up the score

(Dreamsleep: October, 2022)

To fight a war
you cannot win…
what are you to do?

As missiles fly
and billions die
—the blame belongs to who?

(Dreamsleep: March, 2022)

An orphan of destiny
whose birthmark disowns
A life spent indentured
his spirit on loan

Caught in a time warp
unable to leave
The future in chains
contentment bereaved

A child of the moment
left on the streets
Time as his captor
in shoes of concrete

Forever unwelcome
a foster relayed
From instant to instant
his memory replays

An orphan of destiny
whose grief is reborn
In weeks unrelenting
his calendar scorned

Last chance at adoption
it calls from within
The voice of acceptance
—from him unto him

(Dreamsleep: June, 2023)

What would fame bring
what would it change
One iota of truth
the stoppage of rain

Living exposed
the arrows to sling
You know what you know
whether knave or a king

Accolades fall
slaps on the back
Stumble or stall
and your patron’s attack

Life in the shadows
freedom proclaimed
Famously absent
—yourself to ordain

(Dreamsleep: October, 2022)

Days weave together
as night tears at the seams
Light as it vanishes
deserting my dreams

The sun making promises
darkness reneges
The truth stays an orphan
that both will misgive

The rooster to signal
that devil’s retreat
Hope spawning a sunrise
where wishes beseech

All joy upon waking
released from the pall
The clock now a weapon
that hangs on the wall

In mutual exclusion
our psyches must live
A ****** symbiosis
all take and no give

But hands will fall southward
the shadows reborn
This daydream a nightmare
—as twilight sojourns  

(Bryn Mawr College: April, 2023)

Never
let reality
**** a good fantasy

Never
let the moment
be captured in time

Never
let decision
trump a new instinct

Never
say never
—forever sublime

(Dreamsleep: July, 2023)

The middle of the road
is where people live

The middle of the road
is where our hearts sing

The middle of the road
it raptures and calls

The middle of the road
—a home for our wings

(The New Room: March, 2023)

Leasing eternity…
sorrowful joy
Rent paid in moments
death’s choirboy
Light deeded tenure
sight to regain
Conceptual escrow
—vision’s domain

(The New Room: June, 2022)

Blood upon the keyboards
harmonicas in flight
Chasing notes across the score
horns that greet the night

Eighty eight’s to hemorrhage
reeds that bend and break
Music dying then reborn
—trumpeting our fate

(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)

Pounding each key
like a Fender Rhodes
the computer bent and wailed
Bits and bytes
of encrypted language
messages derailed

Memory freezes
last chance rebooted
restart zero-sum
The riff uncapped
its printout fading
—typeface on the run

(The New Room: 8/6/2023)

Tonight through the darkness,
  I wander and crawl

The faces all ghoulish,
  my past to recall

Unsure of direction,
  I listen for sounds

To possibly guide me,
  as fire abounds

I look to my left,
  as hooves thunder past

I look to my right,
  and Beelzebub laughs

All color has gone,
  just the fieriest red

I live out my fear,
  I live out my dread

One hope then to muster,
  that faith remains true

And guides me inclement,
  past demons anew

My despair almost total,
  my regret full in charge

I squint through the smoke,
  “there’s new light from afar”  

I plod on my knees,
  as it grows bigger still

And the temperature drops,
  and the moment refills

Now free of damnation,
  my life starts again

With sacred commitment,
  forgiven of sin

My tomorrows all cherished,
  I live for today

Belief my true savior
  —as humbly I pray

(West Philadelphia: May, 2019)

Laura returned in a dream tonight
to remind me of who I was
Leading me toward a waxing moon
she sang of hope and love
Pulling me close she kissed my lips
as her breath refilled my soul
Giving me back unto myself
—with a joy that time had stole

( To My Muse — Laura Nyro: September, 2023)