A song more than a verse,
  thoughts more than they say

A wish lost in the fall,
  recaptured in May

Love more than a feeling,
  all heaven to share

Last word redelivered,
—on wings of a prayer

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

I play the highway one on one,
  the miles referee

And chase my spirit’s center line,
  direction up to me

The wind to fire the starting gun,
  with rules set long ago

All past and future curbside bound,
—this moment winning so

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Winter comes early,
Its heavy coat
Sealing in the cold
The sky
More visible
Its view not the same
The blue faded gray
With distance in charge
And the wind…
The wind never stops
The wind
Never whispers
Like in summer
Sneaking up from behind
Touching your neck
Reclaiming your soul
The winter wind
Pushes and shoves
With its fury
Knowing its time
Is not limitless
Seeming not to care
Winter comes early
When thoughts cannot let go
And holds on tightly
Until the past says
Goodbye
Forcing you…
Into the gray dawn
And the grayer noon
And the earlier
And earlier
Night
Sacrificing your
Reluctance
For a chance
To be free
For that one
Opening
To see
What’s never been there
You close your eyes
And step
Into the frigid wind
Arms extended skyward
Holding nothing back
Staring into
The face of death
Asking for life
Looking beyond
An eternity of doubt
To that place you now
Return
That place you now
Remember
Where winter comes early…
—once again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Turning his eyes inward
  his heart let out a sigh

And then with one last fleeting glance
  he bid the past goodbye

What’s gone left undetermined
  the future not to be

The moment praying faithfully
  and down on bended knee

His garden burns autumnal
  with colors rich and brown

A robin sings—last plant begins
   seeded wishes in the ground

And then a North wind calls him
  its voice so plain and clear

Those things undone best left to Him
—with winter oh so near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)

A young Poet is to an
  older man

As an old poet is to a
  younger man

“When young then old,
  when old then young

The past twice borrowed,
  the future sung

The old man’s knowledge,
  the young man’s youth

To cross in stages,
—like wisdoms tooth”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

I captain the words to suit my mood
  to curse or then to pray

And document those things I feel
  to others then to say

I choose each verb and noun with care
  and place them side by side

Reminding all of what we share
  those knots we must untie

I move the future to the past
  the present to the front

As what most lingers, then to last
  the handle to the pump

Juxtaposing based on need
  the lines as rivers go

Where currents cast my dreams adrift
  —and wishes overflow

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)

Are they waiting for me patient,
  as I’m caught up in the game

Are they counting down the moments,
  till I breathe my last refrain

Do they wonder why I dawdle,
  with an opening so wide

Do excuses stoop to waddle,
  as my tardiness contrives

Is that light beyond my tunnel,
  to burn forever long

Is the torch that lights my funeral,
  one to mark and count upon

What now keeps me in this moment,
  as new paths have cleared away

Is it something that I haven’t said,
—or wishes still to pray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

Dreamers search incessant,
  hearts cry out undoled

Wishes only whisper,
—love to make them whole

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

Wishing I hadn’t,
  wishing I could

Going through the motions
  —of love

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

I often walk a mile,
  to go just fifteen steps

I often write ten pages,
  for one line that dries and sets

I often talk a blue streak,
  listening for that special word

And often love beyond my heart
  —with grace sent from our Lord

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
     From ‘The Book Of Prayers’

I often walk a mile
  to go just fifteen steps

I often write ten pages
  for that line that dries and sets

I often talk a blue streak
  hoping for one special word

And often love beyond my heart
  —with grace sent from our Lord

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Tapping into redemptions dream,
  I put my smaller dream aside

And reveled in its greater power,
—reclaiming truth from lies

So blessed in this light ablaze,
  than by candlelight unknown

In thanks I kindle warm again,
—recharged, with heart aglow

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)

Each word cutting through
  ten pounds of flesh....

The Muse
    —killing me with her love

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

Each word cutting through
  ten pounds of flesh…

The Muse
    —killing me with her love

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

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)

Write it big
Write it strong
Write it eternal,
…a poets song

Make your words clear
Make right from wrong
The message short,
…the meaning long

This time only lent
The whispers uncloud
The opening prescient,
…reasons abound

Write it forever
Write it out loud
Within the moment,
…happening now

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

Show me a man without a dream
  —and I’ll show you no man at all

(Train To New Hampshire: July, 2016)

The moment…
  something other than time

A consonant failure,
  its freedom in rhyme

Happening once,
  as it happens again

Beyond every measure
—without and within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2019)

Can you paint without color,
  can you think without language

Can you dance without music
  —can you love without pain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Life without death
  joy without pain

No reference, no bearing,
   no loss—no gain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Life without death
  joy without pain

No reference, no bearing
  no loss—and no gain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Traveling beyond your borders,
  freedom scents the trail

Traveling beyond your borders,
  destiny in the mail

Traveling beyond your borders,
   memory in the wind

Traveling beyond your borders,
—without becomes within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2013)

Travelling beyond your borders
  freedom scents the trail

Travelling beyond your borders
  destiny in the mail

Travelling beyond your borders
   memory in the wind

Travelling beyond your borders
   —without becomes within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2013)

Once you’ve hit rock bottom,
—you can never be controlled

(Chicago Illinois: Water Tower with Studs Terkel—July, 1977)

With age,
My sword
Is deeply scarred
But its edge
Now twice as sharp

With age,
My words
Are penned in blood
But their meaning
Takes to heart

With age,
I embrace what
Truth reveals
And step toward
My final hour

With age,
My light burns
Through the dark
And explodes,
—with terminal power

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)