The trappings of
a Poet …
or being a Poet
They’re each something
different
remote and distinct
The tweed jacket
wood paneled
image deceiver
Lays claim to what
only
—enlightenment inks

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

Are consciousness and memory linked,
if so to what degree

Do thoughts control what knowledge seeks,
does reflection hold the key

Remembering back through sense of self,
trying to define

If what is past now lays the track
—that underwrites our mind

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)

To never change a mind that’s closed
or stroke the lion’s mane
With fate embedded, etched in stone
you’re left with what remains
In tunnels dark and burrowed deep
you hide from nature’s wrath
Whose last denial, truth reviled
—reseeds the garden path

(The New Room: July, 2022)

Republican or Democrat,
the wool has been pulled

Over the eyes
of a nation of fools

The truth is just fine
if we get it spoon fed

In our favorite flavor
self-served in our beds

While off in the distance
an Angel stands guard

Bemused at the folly
we ‘Stepfords’ regard

And as he takes flight,
looking down at the fray

Seeing into the future…
that reckoning day

When we **** one another,
without knowing why

Lost sheep running rampant
—redemption denied

(Garrett Hill Pennsylvania: October, 2020)

Charted lanes of custom,
complacency alights
familiarity trumping all
—mindless in the night

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)

Looking out
he took that step
intrepid
and risked it all

Faith to act
as his belay
one last piton
in the wall

Descent set free
in motion
a true heart
to guide him down

For love of life
and moments gone
belief once lost
—refound

(The New Room: December, 2023)

Lost in a ditch
on the highway
of life

A change
came upon him
from darkness to light

That dead end
Apostle
arose and broke free

Remanding
his spirit
— at last unto Thee

(1st Book Of Prayers: February, 2025)

We’re born,
as we start dying

We change,
while remaining the same

We search,
neglecting to find

We return
—while leaving again

(Ronald McDonald House-Phila: January, 2020)

I walked the same path I had always walked,
but the flowers and the bushes were changed
The birds had stopped singing, the woods became dark,
and my memory a tiger untamed
I came to that spot where tomorrow began,
but the gates to its entry were closed
The path veering inward where remembrance escaped
—to wander both free and alone

(St. David’s Pennsylvania: December, 2021)

Born young again myself befriends,
the years all left behind
To wither and die one last goodbye
then bury into time
Born young until myself instilled
as deja vu reminds
Of Autumn snow my heart aglow
—new memory in rhyme

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)

To understand
deeply
the one to the many

Salvation
unquestioned
the weakest in need

Your heart always
truest
when starting the journey

The sheep
that’s been lost
— where humanity bleeds

(The New Room: February, 2024)

Greatness
is condemned to loneliness
as the desert calls
magnifying the instant
through the burning glass
unleashing its essence
in the fire of possibility
spreading old ashes reborn
—upon the sand

(Dreamsleep: September, 2022)

How deep do we travel
inside the divide
When crossing a line
we may not survive

How much of existence
lies waiting beyond
Those things without answers
— in moments becalmed

(Dreamsleep: July, 2024)

Running toward my yesterdays,
the future in pursuit

The loosest ends when left undone
—the past my guilt recruits

(Dreamsleep: April, 2021)

You’ll never catch that perfect wave
or write a perfect verse
The search that drives—the voice that saves,
where all our dreams rehearse

(Sunset Beach: April, 1982)

Bags…
stuffed full with dreams
packed in the night
—waiting for dawn

(Dreamsleep: August, 2021)

Paying hard
the money short
pockets empty
time aborts
A pound of flesh
bills remain
invoice closing
—  sealed with pain

(Dreamsleep: December, 2024)

No more white horses
or pretty ladies
No more bright mornings
or silver skies
No more engagement
with hopes and wishes
No more will promises
cover lies

Once more the danger
is ****** upon me
Once more the mirror
reflects the shame
Once more the time
is left abandoned
Once more tomorrow
—myself to blame

(Dreamsleep: May, 2022)

Poetic intention
exceeding my words
Meanings now idle
truth left unstirred

Marching unspoken
Marching unheard
Marching without me
—to march undeterred

(The New Room: March, 2022)

Be somebody’s hero,
give more than you get

Reach for something bigger,
cast a wider net

Be somebody’s hero,
your name to live beyond

The casket and the headstone
—your memory left in song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)

Lost in confusion,
distracted by tomorrow
anxiety his lover
—memory undreamed

(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)

Preying on the truth
politics sets the trap
Isolating fact from fiction
always on attack

Their circles non-concentric
each area zero-sum
To tempt your fate with poison bait
—never to become

(The New Room: July, 2022)

Not knowing the outcome,
I’d hide in the field

And wait for nature
to turn out the yield

Perception unharvested,
the thick to the thin

The fantasies rotting
—all truth caving in

(Stoltzfus Farm: December, 2020)

Left To Wander

Confusion’s underbelly
frustration’s embryo
Orphaned seeds of black and white
spread where nothing grows
Choices wander celibate
new pregnancy unfound
Up or down left to right
— dubiety impounds

(The New Room: February, 2024)

Incognito

Thinking the worst
of people
life has cast a pall

To cover my
intentions
— and camouflage the fall

(Dreamsdleep: February, 2024)


Warring Words

Poets
are the bravest  
writers …
you know who you are

Scattered
among
the Johnny Come Latelys
battered up and scarred

Each word
proffered
born of pain
raised in discontent

Dying once
to live again
unwilling
— to relent

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)


Winning

First and foremost
success is an
entrepreneurial venture
— not a management exercise

(To Dartmouth Students: January, 2012)

Alone
in my boyhood
the adult awaits
impatient indulgence
the year growing late

The woods
and the forest
refuse to let go
my spirit within them
the man to forego

Parents
and teachers
left counting the days
as wonder and whimsy
hold on and delay

The moment
I falter
the day that I fall
that boy left to wander
— where time never calls

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

****** the sky of its luster,
a new darkness began to imbue

Draining the ocean—taking its salt,
a pillar for Edith renewed

Shearing the top off the mountain,
its crater to hemorrhage and bleed

Stealing the promise from every hope
all faith left to weather—unfreed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2020)

Charging into the waves,
the wind at my back

The horizon clear
—its truth left unsaid

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)

Do you see yourself inside your dream,
or chasing close behind

Is your love unquestioned, given free,
or bartered, contract signed

Are your lyrics empty without applause,
audience on the run

Will the future ransom a past still lost
—the moment left unsung

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

Poetry
secured in beauty …
carved high in a tree
Branches
spread and offer cover
of your history
Winter
comes and bares the promise
Spring will shade anew
Seasons
in the bark awaiting
— progeny to view

(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)

Would you rather die
than be embarrassed

Rather destitute
than shamed

Would you rather set your heart on fire,
than barter out your name

Does your reputation matter,
will your legacy endear

Does what others think,
release the pain

That haunts
—and drives your fear

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)

Like wine uncorked to breathe the air,
my heart and mind become

The richness of this life I’ve lived,
all fortune on the run

Not looking back, but looking in,
the key to feelings past

Where hides a treasure, memory locked
—its legacy recast

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

“Only those things not made less by division
—are to be inherited”

(The New Room: February, 2021)

Oh to be
remembered
Not to be
forgot
Excuses lost
in borrowed time
Reasons
— dearly bought

(Dreamsleep: January, 2025)

Will you be the hero
within your own story

Will you marry the present,
dating the future and past

Will your legacy document
your truest intention

Or falsely imply
words abandoned—unheard

(H.U.P. May, 2020)

Its history was written
in tragedy

The period to the last sentence
—was death

(The New Room: November, 2020)

If only my wishes
had come to me earlier

Much less than I settled for
—still more than I deserved

(Dreamsleep: May, 2020)