From Winston:
“When youth departs
  —may wisdom prove enough”

To Winston:
“When spirit falters
  —all will to then prevail”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

The words were muddy
  the feelings clear

The blues on fire
—the ending near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

I understand the isolation
   what others call being alone

I understand the silent moments
   the inner freedom to roam

I understand the derision
   and the label of being called strange

With each new dawn I most understand
—the joy in not being the same

(Train To Center City Philadelphia: January, 2015)

Looking in places
Beyond my discomfort
Searching,
Searching again

For that Poem to tie
All the meanings together
Making sense
Of a rainbow unbent

Giving up to the music
Beyond sight of the flame
Where disorder
Now rules the day

A word becomes fertile
In the womb of my memory
And my musings reborn
  —once again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

To recite it in a Poem,
  or sing it loud and strong

Their union an espousal,
  one by measure, one by song

Division casts adrift,
  as muted sirens fold their wings

This moment reinvented,
—words and melody one thing

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

All of my life,
I’ve been trying to hide
Drifting untethered
roaming inside

All of my life,
I have chosen to wait
Judging unholy
making mistakes

All of my life,
my arms have been short
The reach much too long
as failure reports

All of my life,
the truth insecure
My back to the light
  —the present unsure

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2014)

I’ve written now a thousand Poems,
  in search of just that one

Each word to slay the demon time,
  each phrase my soul undone

I’ve come so close a hundred nights,
   to see but not to touch

Then left to limp between the lines,
 —their failure now my crutch

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Forever an outsider,
  a key without a door

Locked in your detention,
  its barrier secure

Always on the outside,
  forever looking in

My actions well intended,
  your eyes see only sin

I spend my time in silence,
  rejection now a friend

These years I serve in exile,
  one word from you could end

The walls now growing thicker,
  blank paper for a cage

My spark now just a flicker,
—to light my dying rage

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

Late into the night,
  the characters become real

As the words that I’ve written,
  cement and congeal

Late into the night,
  they take over my soul

My reality transformed
  —my emptiness whole

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

Late into the night,
  the characters become real

And the words that I’ve written,
  cement and congeal

Late into the night,
  they take over my soul

My reality transformed,
—my emptiness whole

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

I don’t need flowers
  to have a garden

I just need seeds
  where promise blossoms

I don’t need pieces
  to solve a puzzle

I just need words
  their teeth unmuzzled

I don’t need time
  its grand illusion

I just need space
  re-entry’s fusion

I don’t need liars
  defying reason

I just need truth
—my faith in season

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)

My cupboards a mess,
  my sink filled with lye

My stables now empty,
  my well has gone dry

My pastures left fallow,
  my timber all burned

My streams have been fished out,
  and what have I learned

The cupboard can be restocked,
  the sink can be cleaned

A new well can be dug,
  a new colt can be weaned

As the dams are reopened,
  new roe will then spawn

These troubles will pass
  —and my faith will move on

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
     ‘From The Book Of Prayers’

Overspending the bulk
  of my temporal capital

Hourly deficits climb
  and pile into notes

Debts I’ll never repay
  stored in vaults I can’t find

Words lying uncashed,
  as I write overdrawn  
  
Pledging to go back
  and re-sign what’s untendered

I’m unforgiven—overdue,
   my fate unsecured

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

My Mother called out to me,
  I had to come

To the depths of Her longing
  my spirit would run

From four thousand feet,
  She cried clear and loud

And as Her first born,
  I rushed downward and proud

From the Canadian Rockies,
  my destiny ran

Through Glacier and Yellowstone
  where all time began

At Page Her arms opened
  pulling me in

And She welcomed my rapids
  to baptize again

Reborn in the current
  of Their unbroken dream

She shouted my name
  the past-future redeemed

My intention now raging,
  my soul shared with Them

She asked of my Father,
  Her words formed the wind

I said, “He is sleeping,”
  His tears for you melt

His promise now drained,
  His love greatly felt

Her heart pounding furious,
  Her depths I now fill

Her womb I reenter
—my Father instilled

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)

With age,
My sword
Is deeply scarred
But its edge
Honed twice as sharp

With age,
My words
Are penned in blood
All flowing
From the heart

With age,
I embrace what
Truth reveals
And am humbled
By its power

With age,
My light burns
Free at last
To illume
—my final hour

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

I made myself a wastrel
  an orphan of my choice

And severed all my family ties
  in search of my own voice

I left without once looking back
  the present straight ahead

The past redundant, future flawed
  to butter my own bread

The years have come with decades gone
  old memories buried deep

Of times when I was young and hurt
  to dream but not to sleep

New breezes blow, fair winds to call
  the children come and go

As here I sit with no regrets
  —my garden fully hoed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)

Every voice needs an ear
  for it to be free

Every writer, a reader,
  or the words cease to be

In my case I’ve been lucky
  though she came to me late

For my dearest sweet Laura
  —the key to my gate

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2018)
        ‘To My Dear Friend Laura’

To the ladies,
  my youth

To my children,
  my love

But to forever,
  my words

As my gift,
—evermore

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)

Throw away my legacy,
  throw away my eyes

Throw away my hopes and dreams,
  package them with lies

Throw away the reasons,
  your excuses now to reign

But never throw away my voice
—to guide me through the pain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2018)

S
H
E

C
A
M
E

MY HEART AS RANSOM

S
H
E

L
E
F
T

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2016)

Gripping the meteor,
  both hands for dear life

Expelling, compelling,
  less heat and more light

Afraid to let go,
  knowing what it will mean

My pen to go dry,
—my heart not to bleed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

While not belonging anywhere,
  beholden then to none

I spread me seeds upon the land,
  I let my spirit run

I cast my lot into the air,
  direction fate be known

And far beyond prevailing winds,
—my heart now rests atoned

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)