Left to themselves,
—words turn to prayer

Wishes now blessings,
—hope in the air

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

The beauty of a Rose…
  in the heart of one who knows

That love’s a gift of time,
  both temporal and sublime

The seedling of a wish,
  future memory to enlist

That hope may till the fields
  —budding Roses to conceal

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

While looking for a bridge
  to cross over tonight

Connecting time honored values
  to internet blight

I thought and I pondered,
  as I surfed on the net

But the things that it offers
  are sadly abject

Where is the laughter
  the thrill of the chase

Through forest and meadow
  with all of your mates

Gone is the connection
  looking eye into eye

Replaced now with distance
  and its virtual lie

The children are programmed
  their bits and their bytes

With screens the new playgrounds
  their couches—their life

Where all of this leads,
  I’m fearful to know

As I look for that bridge
  where our youth can still go

To return from the chaos
  to a welcoming time

Where friendships were made
  in a tree you just climbed

But the harder I search
  the dimmer it gets

Quicksand reinvented
  their souls it collects

Though cards stack against me,
  I remain on my quest

The young are still worth it
 —and hope never rests

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)

I’m most tired of wishing
  —when hope turns to pain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Kidnapped by the Muses,
   sentence now unknown

Thoughts are held for ransom,
  will denied the throne

Kingdom banned in exile,
  usurper in control

Welcoming confinement,
—house arrest extolled

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

Kidnapped by the Muses,
   sentence now unknown

Thoughts are held for ransom,
  will denied the throne

Kingdom banned in exile,
  usurper in control

Welcoming confinement,
—house arrest extolled

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

How much is freedom
  worth?

How much will time
  bestow?

How many questions
    asked?

How many answers
  —known?

(Train From Virginia: April, 2015)

Did you find the exact life you wished for,
  do you have the money you craved

Did you find they were not the same at all
  once that final purchase was made

Are you feeling nothing but emptiness
  sitting here disillusioned and alone

Have the mirrors all been taken down
—stark reminders of the falsehood you’ve known

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2016)

Sharing space with myself
  replaying ‘what if’

Symbiosis conjoins
  the jazz in the riff

The progression regressive
  separation be ******

My shadow imploding
  —in a joyous ‘I Am’

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

As I lay dying
there were no regrets,
. . . because I answered back

From all beginnings
to every distant end,
. . . I answered back

Not waiting for any higher calling
or mystery on the wind,
. . . I answered back

Before the questions, even after the
secrets,
. . . I answered back

I shouted in voices of my own becoming,
and you forgave me for every one,
. . . and answered back too

Spreading your wings
eternal,
...inviting me to climb on

Pointing me toward the
heavens,
...for one last ride

Where I hold on triumphant,
listening to you announce into forever,
. . . those things I’ve said

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2011)

Am I so entitled,
  is it there in my name

Is the water redemptive,
  my salvation proclaimed

Does the Rock Of All Ages
  line my river with stone

Are the words mine by birthright,
  not borrowed or loaned

Is all time but a servant,
  flowing inward to send

A beginning eternal,
  whilst slaying the end

Is my legacy written
  in the current redeemed

As the present rechristens
  —my baptismal name freed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Simple words
  and deeper meanings

Softer thoughts
  and harder leanings

Letters line up
  straight and true

But often they bring
  something new

Simple words
  and deeper meanings

Icebergs melt,
  the flow still gleaming

Say it once,
  and say it plain

Your heart will roar
—your soul to gain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

I put a saddle on the wind,
  and rode it through the storm

The bridle placed, the buckle cinched,
  the reins, my horse reborn

Inside each stirrup passion spurs,
  the present now in hand

Behind whose mane I charge within,
—in search of who I am

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

That cartridge in a ******’s gun,
   true Poets **** with only one

The shooters bullet marked by him,
   one word to **** what lies within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

If wishes were dreams,
—eternity could sleep

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

If wishes were dreams
  —eternity could sleep

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

If we were young men,
  if we were strong

If we had fresh words,
  to add to our song

If we were soldiers,
  with war in our veins

If we were poets,
  our voices reclaimed

If we were lovers,
  of women that cried

If we went wandering,
  our heart’s reapplied

If we were statesmen,
  the world in our grasp

If we were sailors,
  the wind at our backs

If we were farmers,
  with meadows so green

If we were actors,
  on stages supreme

If we were hunters,
  new wolf on the prowl

If we were dreamers,
  all wishes allowed

If we were young men,
  still facing the sun

But alas, we are old
  —and darkness has come

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Where have all the
  Poets gone

Where are all the
  songs unsung

Where does the mystery
  unravel sublime

Where does the majesty
  reach the Divine

Where does tomorrow
  turn into today

If not for the Poet,
  we've all lost our way

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)