I stare back from the last horizon,
  and scientists look bemused

Theologians prey among themselves,
  mystics stay confused

Once through the light Divining
  no beginnings or their ends

All truth transcending within itself
  —as time and space descend

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2019)

That road that I searched for,
  led me into the words

Their geography inward,
  their ownership heard

All possessions relinquished,
  no teeth left to bite

The journey soft spoken,
  —walking into the light

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

Chasing the morning…
Out of the trees
Over the hill
Quixotic trapeze
Through the valley
Crossing the lake
Into the meadow
Time overtakes
A messenger calls
The cave now in sight
Daylight behind us
—into the night

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July,2016)

Poetry is the effect
  never the cause

A living remembrance
  —of a legacy spawned

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)

(An Anthology Of Perception Vol. 3)            


            “I write the first draft
                and paint the second

                 “But the third
                  —I get to sing”

Concerned with self
  birds in a row

Concerned with self
  all droppings show

Concerned with self
  the blindfold tight

Concerned with self
  not day or night

Concerned with self
  what’s real distorts

Concerned with self
  my voice retorts

Concerned with self
  front turns to back

Concerned with self
  —in truth I lack

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

It was Hemingway
  early

And Dickinson
   late

Those early
  exposures

The trail of
  my wake

No bar left
  unvisited

Or brawl left
  unfought

No school that could
   answer

Dialectic
  corrupt

Now this corner
  I sit in

Both welcomes
  and warms

And the thoughts
  it retriggers

No movement
  just form

I once had
  looked over

What I now look
  within

From this chair
  that I captain

Where in virtue
  —I sin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

It was Hemingway
  early

And Dickinson
   late

Those early
  exposures

The trail of
  my wake

No bar left
  unvisited

Or brawl left
  unfought

No school that could
   answer

Dialectic
  untaught

Now this corner
  I sit in

Both welcomes
  and warms

And the thoughts
  it retriggers

No movement
  just form

I once had
  looked over

What I now look
  within

From this chair
  that I captain

Where in virtue
  —I sin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Day surrounds your memory,
  as evening frames your smile

But what I most remember
  —is morning in your eyes

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Not like her,
And
Not like him,
And
Not like you
  —I write!

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

I remember art deco things,
  I remember peaches and wine

I remember sirens in the night,
  I remember waving goodbye

I remember the boardwalk on a cloudy day,
  I remember an elephant in pink

I remember the fire engine returning,
  I remember my father—I think

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
     ‘Memories of the Korean War’

Is anyone ever a total fraud
  or totally sincere?

Is anyone committed beyond mere space
  to a notion fond and dear?

Is anyone ever one hundred percent
  with subtraction the rule of the day?

Is anyone better than what they believe
  or worse than a mother can pray?

Is anyone ever truly in charge
  of that moment that slips through the hand?

Is anyone willing to dance beyond hope
  to a melody lost by the band?

Is anyone chosen from those who are not
  or entitled to what can’t be earned?

Is anyone welcomed straight into the light
—on a path where all others have turned?

(Airplane-Las Vegas To Philadelphia: January, 2016)

Is death the price of truth...

  “The light shines brightest
    that shines at the end”

Is death the price of truth...

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

I knew I shouldn’t,
  but despite the pain and hurt I still could

Like the Bluesman said…
  “You got a bad way of doing me good”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Is there a difference between
  judgment and observation

Is there a difference between
  opinion and introspection

Is there a difference between
  atonement and damnation

Is the difference only in the words
—or is it something more

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

The truth of hope is faith
  —the hope of faith is love

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

The only thing
  that spreads faster than hate,
    —is love

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

Is a poem ever finished,
  a song completely sung

Does today end with tomorrow,
—is love forever young

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

No more book fairs or tours
  no autographs signed

My words are my gift
  the privacy mine

No talk shows or fetes
  New York Times to eschew

Questions unanswered
  —my thoughts unreviewed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2018)

Is it first the
Music
And then the
Words
Or do the
Words
Come first?
Elton John says it
Works
Either way
Bob Dylan’s
Words create
The meaning
That Ray Charles
And
Jimi Hendrix
Explode
Is all timing
Real
Or just
Imagined?
Is the structure
True or
False?
Do your words
Beget the
Melody
Or is your
Aria
—born alone?

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2016)

It’s harder to lie in verse or a poem,
  than it is with dialog or prose

It’s harder to bend the truth over a feeling,
than around what you or someone else knows

It’s harder to feign an eruption of light,
  or the isolation of being alone in the dark

It’s harder to mislead with a few chosen words,
  than with tomes that were written to outsmart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)

It’s harder to lie in verse or a poem,
  than it is with dialog or prose

It’s harder to bend the truth over a feeling,
than around what you or someone else knows

It’s harder to feign an eruption of light,
  or the isolation of being alone in the dark

It’s harder to mislead with words formed in your soul,
  than with tomes that were written to outsmart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2016)