The friendly enemy,
  or enemy friend

What matters the difference,
  or need to pretend

Either stabbed in the front,
or knifed in the back

The wound just as fatal,
  in either attack

Blood given freely,
  or blood taken dark

Veins running empty,
  leading back to the heart

To face it undaunted,
  or preyed from the rear

Deaths twins will approach,
—on the tip of one spear

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

My words live on undefended,
  speaking for themselves

My prayer rises, voice ascended
  —death unto itself

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)

Our lives were of this moment…
  the wave made sure of that

Winter nineteen sixty-nine
  Waimea’s fury spat

Thirty feet and building
  the giants all had come

Their lips four stories high above
  too late to cut and run

The paddle out a nightmare
  the ride a waiting terror

The drop in looming zero-sum
  the wall the devils mirror

We made it down and set our fins
  to climb the face again

Our ears were deaf, eyes frozen wide
  once more to climb the mountain  

On top we leaned and split the crest
  last turn to surf the violence

The beach in sight, through foams delight
   —death wading through the silence

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)
           ‘Memories Of Waimea’

Youth ran away toward the front,
  as death pursued from the rear

Catching me inside the paradoxical
  whipsaw of life

I stopped, as the boy continued into the distance,
  but the reaper stopped too

Wanting me to run some more,
  preferring to attack from behind

As I turned to face my stalker, his eyes went down;
  and his presence cast no shadow

He took two steps back, but I reached for his hand
  while saying:

         “Walk with me, keep up with me
          your job here still not finished
          The boy has indeed gone, but
          the man is not yet ready to go”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)

Defaulting on all past
  and future sins

The weight of their debt,
—the present rescinds

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)

The Lies about tomorrow,
—the truth about today

Deceived by joy and sorrow,
—all future gone astray

(Las Vegas Nevada- January, 2017)

The lies about tomorrow,
—the truth about today

Deceived by joy and sorrow,
—all future gone astray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Yesterday and tomorrow…
  the same impostor
    —wearing different masks

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

Yesterday and tomorrow
 The same impostor,
  —wearing different masks

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

Things beyond description
Deemed poetic lay….
‘A golden oak
On an October day’
‘The perfect form
Of a cresting wave’
‘The laughter of toddlers
As they run and play’
‘A Mozart concerto
  —in its timeless way’

(Dallas Texas: June, 2018)

The trail of my passing
  the joy and the tears

Each memory a milestone
  to mark every year

That road undiscovered
  lay before me ahead

With faith as my guidepost
  —deeper footsteps to tread

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2018)

There’s a higher level
  of being

Than you’ve thought
  or felt before

There’s a greater
  state of consciousness

Once you learn then
  to ignore…

All those things that can
  distract you

Those that keep you on
  the shelf

As the heavens play a
  forgotten song

Sung deep inside
  —yourself

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

Deep within the ashes,
  a last ember burned alone

A final spark to light the torch,
  to guide your spirit home

Deep within the ashes,
  a last beacon in the fight

Refusing to let the darkness take
—your vestige into night

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

Nuclear Poetry,
  a single bomb drops

To wipe out the hate,
  to reset the clock

A megaton scream,
  its verse burns alive

The plague of excuses,
—deception and lies

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

The only defense against fate
  is words

The only answer to death
  —is life

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2018)

I’ll create my own reality,
  in spite of what you say

A distant voice you fear the most,
—the hunter not the prey

You wish for something then hope it’s true,
  and wait with fingers crossed

To dump your emptiness upon my soul,
—your heart defiled and lost

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

The Future…
   is but the past unloved

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)

Contentment has set in
  all restlessness gone

The hour growing short
  —the day forever long

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Contentment has set in,
  all restlessness gone

The hour growing short
  —the day forever long

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Wishing it had been different,
  I used my last borrowed breath

And made a vow to repent for
  each denial

Praying for absolution,
  my final hope into the wind

Saying:

“**** me if you have to,
  but first deliver me from this lie”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Under the shroud of blind obedience,
  the Church forever hides

Its loyalty to the Pope and Rome,
  it chides and chides and chides

Canon Law and its corrupted faith
  walk proudly side by side….

          “Where a child of eight
           in parochial school
           was brainwashed deep inside”

But guilt then crumbled, damnation cursed
  by heavens light deposed

The truth and God now one again
   —the demon lie exposed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2013)

Depravity’s eye
  looking at you

Depravity’s eye
  piercing straight through

Depravity’s eye
  asking for more

Depravity’s eye
  destiny’s *****

Depravity’s eye
  calls deeply within

Depravity’s eye
  the wage of all sin

Depravity’s eye
  the price you must pay

Depravity’s eye
—for all that you say

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)