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)

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)

Conation

Have you tilted the axis
on a new tomorrow
Have you changed with intention
— the direction of time

(The New Room: February, 2024)



Round Peg — Square Holes

The poetry of mathematics
— oxymoronic at best

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)





Robert The Bruce

War is won
before the first battle fought
Willful intention
the enemy caught

Decision a crossbow
empowered by choice
The spirit retracting
— a conquering voice

(Stonehenge: March, 1987)


Apate

Captive of emotion
— prisoner of deceit

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)


Crossing Over

Attending his own funeral
no tears were exchanged
No grieving or mourning
— but memory remained

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)

In Memoriam

People won’t remember you
because of your money
The human spirit bereft
by your dollars in vain
History won’t revere you
because of your tokens
Your legacy built upon
— prescience ordained

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)



Blood Trail

Don’t get ****** into choosing
both sides are bad
The Left or the Right
their massages sad

The Right tries to promise
what Leftist’s sublate
Two sides to a trap
— where lies are the bait

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)


“What Simple Folk Do …”

Only inside ordinary things
is the extraordinary released
Baptized new day after day
eternity unleashed

Only by embracing what’s common amongst us
as Arthur knew so well
Can we move on to where it starts
beyond heaven — beyond hell

(Memories Of Camelot: February, 2024)


Making Our Bed

The silence of death
lives in the future
Sleeping with memories
— of yesterday’s past

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)

Did they dare you to be
what you already were
Your profile kept hidden
unshaken or stirred
To wander in your
unbroken discontent
A path that lies hidden
—by unspoken words

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)

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)

Rest assured in the knowledge you are
—without having to know why

(Dreansleep: May, 2022)

Larcenous freedom,
mask so divine
Hiding in plain sight
—stealing from time

(The New Room: March, 2021)

The older the prophecy
—the more desperate we hang on

(Dreamsleep: November, 2022)

The genius of Robin Williams,
the prescience of Harry Nilsson
The magic of Brian Wilson,
the artistry of Nina Simone
Celebrity robbed them of their greatest gift,
the most treasured one of all
To live at peace within themselves
—a normal life recalled

(The New Room: January, 2022)

Lost in the city,
floundering alone
caught on the hook
of an abandoned dream
fighting in vain
against modernity’s pull
living the lie
—of eternity’s pain

(The New Room: July, 2021)

Twenty-five years
of saying the Rosary

Twenty-five years
a promise to keep

A last dying wish
her beads in my hand

Not one day I’ve missed
— or one restless sleep

(The 1st Book Of Prayers: January, 2025)

The lights went out,
the music played,
as Angels spread their wings

My name recalled,
my heart enthralled
—as joyous cherubs sing

(1st Book Of Prayers: March, 2022)

Feigning reentry
from places I’ve wandered
Destiny challenged
the status-quo damns

Feigning reentry
from freedom unhindered
Life but a journey
its trappings to ban

Feigning reentry
its price was my freedom
The given agenda
new death to the dream

Feigning reentry
refusal my mantra
Staying in transit
—new rivers unstreamed

(The New Room: March, 2023)

Shrinking time down
to a factor of one
The future and past
cancel out zero-sum
The moment, this instant
the only thing real
Unmasking the present
—nothing left to conceal

(St. David’s Pennsylvania: April, 2021)

Portals of perception …
they used to get taught
to seekers and dreamers
and children unwrought

Depravity and greed
force fed to the young
with lies and betrayal
—their futures forgone

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)

No time for the memories,
no time to refrain
No time for the questions,
as answers proclaim
No time for the yearnings,
regret hovers close
No time for new learning
—all time but a ghost

(Dreamsleep: December, 2015)

Explain the words
and all freedom is gone
Slicing and dicing
enslaved to the throng
Meaning depends
upon whom and what’s heard
Evolving new wings
—each reader a bird

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

I remember art deco things,
  I remember peaches and wine

I remember sirens in the night,
  I remember waving goodbye

I remember the boardwalk on a cloudy day,
  I remember an elephant in pink

I remember the fire engine returning
  I remember my father—I think

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
     ‘Memories of Margate during the Korean War’

Music can only be heard one way,
words have a different refrain

Melody imprisoned by note and score,
what’s written when read apt to change

The ear a prisoner to the composer’s delight,
to listen—a captive within

But reading the lines that a poet inscribes
ever changing—each time you begin

(Dreamsleep: January, 2021)

New Keys

Will I do it justice
will I find the words

Unlocking tomorrow
— with phrases unheard

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)


Counting Inward

It’s never about
the number of words
Only the meaning
— and truth to be heard

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)

If time is a prior assumption
—all else falls into line

(Villanova University: May, 2023)

Embracing my illusion,
reality slipped away
as truth returned uncensored
—all memory out to play

(Dreamsleep: August, 2021)

When verses
run dry
do you hide
in despair
When the Muse
is on fire
only ashes
you’ll bear
With silence
embedded
on each
empty page
Your fear
is the foundling
that kindles
— the rage

(Ronald McDonald House: May, 2025)

You’ll get where you’re going
—if you don’t go too fast

(Kit Carson: May, 1850)

Complexity wrapped
in simpler terms
Untying its ribbon  
— freeing the words

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)

Left To Wander

Confusion’s underbelly
frustration’s embryo
Orphaned seeds of black and white
spread where nothing grows
Choices wander celibate
new pregnancy unfound
Up or down left to right
— dubiety impounds

(The New Room: February, 2024)

Incognito

Thinking the worst
of people
life has cast a pall

To cover my
intentions
— and camouflage the fall

(Dreamsdleep: February, 2024)


Warring Words

Poets
are the bravest  
writers …
you know who you are

Scattered
among
the Johnny Come Latelys
battered up and scarred

Each word
proffered
born of pain
raised in discontent

Dying once
to live again
unwilling
— to relent

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)


Winning

First and foremost
success is an
entrepreneurial venture
— not a management exercise

(To Dartmouth Students: January, 2012)

Neuroscience
takes a world class meal
grinds it into bits
and tries to convince us
— its taste has improved

(Villanova University: April, 2025)

Paint in your heart
the colors symphonic
Images dancing
each note brushed with fire
Clapping and cheering
rhythmatic ovations
The prisms last opus
—concerto’s desire

(Septa R5: December, 2023)

Ever the temptress
whose motion deceives
There’s only one cure
for desires strip tease

She points and she lingers
distance her charm
Night her *******
the smoke to disarm

She dares you to touch
while pulling away
Stripping emotion
your longing at bay

Till finally turning
the stage lights have dimmed
Anticipation
—killing within


(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Just because you can
doesn’t mean you would
Just because you might
doesn’t mean you should

Just because you want
doesn’t mean you need
Just because you look
— doesn’t mean you see

(The New Room: July, 2024)

A madman’s humanity
of which we decry
When he has those feelings
the same, you and I

How can he commit
such actions of death
Then cry when a comrade
lets out his last breath

A madman with feelings
the concept abhors
That he loves his children
his dog and his ******

His body dies ******
his legend to live
Embroiled in fury
—only time can forgive

(The New Room: May, 2022)
Watching ‘Narcos’ on Netflix

The essence of wisdom
lies in simplicity
hiding in plain sight
—for eyes that can see

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)