I knew it long before the end
my affairs to order fast
The days once promised now recalled
my future is my past

Each day times ten the countdown on
as memory wanders back
Tomorrow once was like the stars
that time would not attack

Into this funk I drift away
each phrase might be my last
The river calling out to me
the falls my soul’s repast

With T’s all crossed and dotted I’s
I hear the trumpet blow
and carried on a distant wind
—into the fates I go

(The New Room: May, 2022)

Without shared values,
what can we do

Without shared values,
who can we be

The proof’s in the pudding,
the cream has gone sour

Our greatness now curdled
—our future most dour

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)

The world is becoming
impossible to govern
Each person that island
Donne warned us about

All sense of belonging
in mirrors bespoken
The strength of shared values
—our vanity flouts

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

God has no essence
beyond his existence

No parts to the whole
—forever as one

(Dreamsleep: August, 2021)

The Universe,
imagination

God…
existence Thine

Each Soul,
His essence passing through

Individuality
—Divine

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

In the act of creation,
we feel most alive

Releasing the lifeforce
—our purpose defined

(Dreamsleep: December, 2020)

Do three dimensions,
preclude a fourth

Does pointing toward South,
prevent being North

Is now just the midpoint,
between future and past

Does the freedom to choose,
leave all nature aghast

Is one and one two,
if one is in doubt

Are the whole or its parts,
what this world is about

Are Creation and Physics,
at war with themselves

Is Divinity chosen
—willed unto one self

(Saint David’s Pennsylvania: July, 2019)

Beyond every question…
God is the answer
filling in the gaps of our imperfection
offering hope in the face of despair
light to shine through the darkness
and promise
when abandonment is all we feel
lifting the burden that covers our greatness
reaffirming our choices
strengthening our wills on the forge of His power
unblocking the final entryway
—to ourselves divine

(The Book Of Prayers: October, 2020)

Become what you are
false prophets be ******
The greatness within you
beyond their command

Become what you will
His light shining forth
Expanding the moment
—yourself as the source

(The 1st Book Of Prayers: March, 2023)

Ambient poetry,
truth on the vine

Words of the moment
—vintage divine

(Dreamsleep: April, 2020)

The days are long
the years are short
as eternity
—whistles a tune

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)

The real nature
in the term
human nature…
Anecdote
of learned behavior
—serving self

(Dreamsleep: February, 2021)

When death came ‘a calling,’
again thus denied

The future remortgaged
—payment applied

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

Religion in practice…
arms length from God
Close enough to see,
never to touch

Single lens focus,
vision for sale
Dogma as deity
—conscription at birth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)

Professional Poet
—consummate oxymoron

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

Sorrow…
penultimate killer
—handmaiden of death

(Dreamsleep: January, 2021)

Where do those lives go
when a cat doesn’t use them
Where do memories go
when no one can recall
Where do wishes go
when hope is abandoned
Where do lovers go
—when the love is gone

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

Don’t talk to me about form,
  when the feeling isn’t there

Don’t talk to me about substance,
  when experience is rare

Don’t talk to me about insight,
  when reflection is ignored

Don’t blaspheme an epiphany
  —in the presence of the Lord
  
(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

“When staring death in the face...
   never look back over your shoulder”

(From My Novel: ‘Death From The Sky’)

Respect for time,
Disdain for time,
The double edge
—the narrow ledge

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2019)

Stripped of his future,
outrunning his past

The doors locked within him
—first to the last

(Dreamsleep: December, 2019)

Revisiting places,
a fresh pair of eyes

All time reimagined
—the how and the why

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

Claiming your goodness
—results in its loss

(Dreamsleep: November, 2023)

Trapped between two hells   
we flee from one ...  
as we manufacture the other    

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

The paradox
of self-awareness
near and yet so far

Looking out
to see within
imploding like a star

The door that enters
exits free
its threshold bright then dim

Allowing what
the psyche fears
—to pass both out and in

(Dreamsleep: March, 2023)

Words are the enemy
till sparingly used

And weighted with meaning
beyond p’s and q’s

They serve to release us
with imagery plain

Expanding the message
—in pointed refrain

(Bryn Mawr College: November, 2023)

The better Angels of our nature…
the Devil only laughs

Laying traps as yet unseen,
in virtues aftermath

Reluctant aspiration,
free will a double edge

That takes us high while honing doubts
—of falling off the ledge

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2019)

Is it in the heart
Or in the eyes
For all you see
To then despise
Is it anger first
Or love at last
Can you judge the future
By the past
Does the meaning change
With every choice
Your words return
Another’s voice
Last wish you make
One vow to pray
Your vision strikes
—all doubt betrayed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

The commonest denominator,
stepping toward the throne

His minions with their blindfolds on,
about to be disowned

The commonest denominator,
laughing at their pain

Another lie, stick in the eye
—a life of greed and shame

(Dreamsleep: October, 2020)

In West Port Arthur
the winds blew hard
to carry her away
The times were ripe
Big Brother raw
that crossroads by the bay
Her dive was deep
through Kozmic Blues
a legend to unfurl
But not escape
that Ball and Chain
—still searching for the Pearl

(Ode To Janis Joplin: November, 2023)

Like an open wound
That won’t heal
The current political situation
Bleeds out…
A hemorrhaged polarization
Inside a malignancy of lies
Draining our spirits
  —of all life giving faith

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2016)

Each drawer that I fill,
stores something past

The future spread out
on the bed

As each one closes,
its memories sleep safe

Dreams quilted
and looking ahead

Layered inside
and kept neatly stacked

In silence,
their stories unfold

Each drawer front embossed
with a message they share

“Open Only If Naked Or Cold”

The dresser sits quiet,
its handles untouched

As new history begins
with each write

And construction resumes,
a new dresser is built

To store words yet to clothe
—and delight

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)