Dreams carry me across
  a mysterious land

Where the voice of my fathers
  so gently commands

It echoes quite softly
  in words only sung

A joyous recital,
  rewoven and spun

I never can stay there,
  I’ve begged till I weep

And with barely a whisper,
  I’m roused from my sleep

But when darkness befalls
  on my world once again

A new dream will come calling
   —to guide me within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)

Dreams carry me across
  a mysterious land

Where the voice of my fathers
  so gently commands

It echoes now softly,
  in words only sung

A joyous recital,
  rewoven and spun

I never can stay there,
  I’ve begged till I weep

And with barely a whisper,
  I’m roused from my sleep

But when darkness befalls
  on my world once again

A new dream will come calling
  —to guide me within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)

I rode the emotion like a horse
  until the shoes fell off one by one

Leaving me silent and alone

A horseless prophet on the raging sands
—desperately trying to harness the wind

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

The mind is the ghost of our being,
  its voice left to haunt and cajole

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2017)
      Collaboration with Martina Lynch

The enigma of a woman rests
  in what you’ll never know

Despite those things she gives to you,
  her secrets bide unshown

Your eyes may taste and hands might touch,
  but to herself alone

Her power worn as though a crown,
—her mystery, her throne

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Can you purchase tomorrow,
  with yesterday’s wage

Can you eliminate sorrow,
  still carrying your rage

Can you call out the answer,
  with the question at bay

Can you set a reminder,
  while forgetting your way

Can this moment unchosen,
  be the instant that lasts

Can a heart still unbroken,
  survive torment aghast

Can the choices you’ve made,
  set the world all ablaze

Can you harness the fire,
—to ignite and amaze

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

If you live your life correctly,
  death walks close by your side

To constantly remind you,
  that time’s not on your side

Your choice on how to handle,
  to ignore or then befriend

Will change your life completely
  —as each day begins again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

A great voice has been silenced
  the wind through the willows
  blowing once, never to return

His words left behind
  to inspire and remind
   —of those things that we still have to learn

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)

Thick skin
Thin skin
Are they worn the same?

Praise yes
Blame less
Does any truth remain?

Thick skin
Thin skin
To open or to hide?

Reasons for
Excuses against
To laugh—or then to cry

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2016)

Escaping myself,
I ran into the wilderness

Escaping myself,
I ran back through the dawn

Escaping myself,
my shadow had vanished

Until capturing myself
  —in the words of your song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)

Are you a ****** being
  if you choose to remain celibate

Are you famous or forgotten
  if you live in a cave

Are you democrat or republican
  if you’re never to vote

Are you black or white
  in the eyes of the blind

Are you young or old
  in the heart of a child

Are you rich or poor
  when everything’s gone

Are you healthy or sick
  when the gallows claim you

Are you guilty or innocent
  when the crime is absolved

Are you friend or foe
  as the last man to fall

Are you committed or unsure
  when the questions retract

Can you find what’s been hidden
  with the object removed

Can you cry out in silence
  when the noise overuns

Can you travel in place
  to unknown destinations

Can you swear to the Lord
  with all prophecy in doubt

Can you still love your children
  when no longer their father

Can you leapfrog all paradox
   —to find your way home

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

Thoughts inflame as feelings stir
Words simmering yet to boil
Unspoken sparks drift through the night
A pyre still to burn

Delphian in its natural form
The smoke a treacherous friend
As ink rekindles and lies cremate
The mind, its woods on fire

As heat restores the human soul
All prodigals return
With hope to melt the frozen dawn,
—and free the poet’s hand

The verses stacked and dried of doubt
Their ignition up to you
As dark they wait for your next breath
To light the spoken air

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

Thoughts inflame as feelings stir
Words simmering yet to boil
Unspoken sparks drift through the night
A pyre still to burn

Delphian in its natural form
The smoke a treacherous friend
Ink rekindles and lies cremate
The mind, its woods on fire

As heat restores the human soul
All prodigals return
With hope to melt the frozen dawn,
—and free the poet’s hand

The verses stack and dry of doubt
Their ignition up to you
As dark they wait for your next breath
To light the spoken air

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

Thoughts inflame as feelings stir
Words simmer yet to boil
Unspoken sparks drift through the night
A pyre still to burn

Delphian in its natural form
The smoke a treacherous friend
Words rekindle—lies cremate
The Oracle on fire

As heat restores the human soul
All prodigals return
New hope to melt the frozen dawn
And free the poet’s hand

With letters stacked and dried of doubt
Their Muse cries out your name
As dark she waits for your next breath
  —to light the spoken air

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)
    ‘Inspired by Roberto Rodriguez’

To live as an artist,
   but die as a man

Dust forever chasing
  —what heaven began

(Center City Philadelphia: January, 2015)

Every thought,
  a link in the chain

Every feeling,
  joy battling pain

Every moment,
  a dream set to fly

Every decision,
—to live or to die

(Car From New Hampshire: September, 2016)

The breastfed future
  stripped motherlode

The past untethered
  —back on the road

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

My road deeply potholed
  with those left behind

Resurfaced with pain
  all casualties mine

A road often fatal
  to family and friends

No roses to line it
  as it twisted and bent

When forced to look back,
  I see nothing but blood

From my hands to the cradle
  on those that I’ve loved

If you ask me my reason
  for acting this way

With eyes straight ahead,
  I’d have nothing to say

The road getting shorter
  compressed in the light

Behind me those bodies
  that questioned my flight

The deeper I travel
  newer endings begin

This toll mine to pay
—heading further within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)

I lifted you into my heart
But one arm was missing
As single wing and one handed
I carried you inside
All the while, you pointing at
My lost absent limb…
You told me you’d love me
If I could find that one misplaced part
The part that would then
Make me whole
I looked into tomorrow
And searched through the past
But my arm had reached out
For something beyond my ability to see
I could still feel the numbing sensation
Of pain
Where the arm had previously
Been attached
The vibration of loss
Now prosthetic for all that was severed
You pitied my deformity as I hid
My eyes
As best I could with only one hand
Telling me the fault was mine
For always reaching beyond what I
Could know or see…
And with your final stroke of malice
You left me further disabled
Climbing back outside a wish I knew
Was never to be mine…
When you left you found the old world
Different than the one you thought you knew
A desert of frozen stone with a black sky now
Surrounded the stillness of your abandoned love…
As you hesitated to turn around and
Reenter my world
The one that just a moment ago you had
Admonished and left for good
A lone arm reached out and closed the door
Behind you
Leaving you abandoned in a sea of loneliness
And despair
  —to love no more

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)
Dedicated To Lisa Wynn in the next AOP.

I carried you into my heart
But one arm was missing
As single wing and one handed
I pulled you inside
All the while, you pointing at
My lost absent limb
You told me you’d love me
If I could find that one missing part
The part that would then
Make me whole
I looked into tomorrow
And searched through the past
But my arm had reached out
For something beyond my ability to see
I could still feel the numbing sensation
Of pain
Where the arm had previously
Been attached
The vibration of loss
Now prosthetic for all that was missing
You pitied my deformity as I hid
My eyes
As best I could with only one hand
Telling me the fault was mine
For always reaching beyond what I
Could know or see
And with your final stroke of meanness
And my last ounce of blood
You left me further disabled
Climbing back outside a wish I knew
Was never to be mine
When you left you found the old world
Different than the one you thought you knew
A desert of frozen stone with a black sky
Surrounding the stillness of your abandoned love
As you hesitated to turn around and
Reenter my world
The one that just a moment ago you had
Admonished and left for good
A lone arm reached out and closed the door
Behind you
Leaving you alone in a sea of loneliness
And despair,
—to love no more

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

Poetry is to be given away
  and never ever sold

A gift beyond what time demands
   —and wrapped in leaves of gold

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2018)

Every man dies,
  but not every man lives

Embracing his passion
  —eternity bids

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

Bubblewrapped children
  disparate hope

Spirits in limbo
  shortest of ropes

Control and protection
  their meaning belies

Tomorrow ill promised
—eternity cries

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2018)