Oft times,
The smallest of things
Are the biggest of all

Oft times,
The softer you land
The harder you fall

Oft times,
Life is a present
Tied with ribbon and lace

Oft times,
The one’s you ignored
In your dreams have a face

Oft times,
The beginning and end
Join together attached

Oft times,
Those doors that you locked
With new love come unlatched

Oft times,
The family lost
In new loyalty found

Oft times,
The things that you're not
  —free your world to go round

(Airplane To Las Vegas: August 1, 2015)

There was a time when I was worth knowing
  before the pain took over

There was a time with joy overflowing
  my wishes steeped in clover

There was a time you knew unfurled
  my love abounding free

There was a time when all the world
  —was made of you and me

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2018)

Oh, to draft just one
Oh, to say the words
Oh, to remake time
Oh, to once be heard
Oh, to write for you
Oh, to joyous be
Oh, to sing the meaning
Oh, to be set free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Smiling to himself…
Again, he had fallen in love
Amazed at the moment
A line crossed, forever blurred

Laughing inside…
His humanity back on display
All doubts ignited
Old embers near extinguished
—on fire

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Is it the main course of the tale
  or the ingredients that count

Is it the entree served first
  or the dessert that surmounts

Is it the first that was last
  or the last then before

As the order indentured
  reverses once more

Was it the things that you said
  or the silence you kept

Was it the moments you starved
  or those times that you wept

Was it for honor and glory
  or a passion unseen

As your meal time resets
  —and old hunger now feeds

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

You can take away health,
   you can take away riches,
   you can take my ability to see

But it will only cause me to feel
  you more
   —as I cry from bended knee

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

Liking what things are supposed to be
  instead of what they are

I spend my life in wondered lust
  not near, yet so afar

Wishing the truth not what it was
  but what it was meant to be

I spend my nights in wish filled dreams
  —my faith on bended knee

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2018)

The words a magic salve….
  for the unspoken wound
   —of a thought once denied

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)

Once a Catholic…
  always a Catholic

Once a Priest…
  forever a Priest

Once a Poet…
  always a Poet

Once a Man…
  —forever a Man

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

If you know that you can,
  do you really still have to

With uncertainty gone,
  does incentive still live

Must you then prove to others,
  what you know beyond measure

Is it anticlimactic,
—once the bee leaves the hive

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Do we wait for tomorrow,
  as we wait for today

Do we see a connection,
  false wishes to pray

Do we draw from the past,
  as the circle is spun

Trapped inside or out,
  is it then Zero-Sum

Can the memories forgotten,
  revisit again

Do the feelings held back,
  turn to poison and blame

Is our freedom beyond
  our ability to reach

Are we the one student,
  we’ve forgotten to teach

Is finality connected,
  or separate from

Those things we hold onto,
  and still try to run

Is that voice we hear calling,
  from within or without

Are they really the same,
—once the circle breaks out

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Can a back door open,
  when the front door shuts

Can truth escape,
  when death interrupts

Can an exit be made,
  main entrance denied

Can tomorrow live on,
—once the present has died

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Will eternity have
  a yin and a yang

Will the forces that govern
  applaud and harangue

Will the blessings have value
  if damnation moves on

Will it all even matter
  —once tomorrow is gone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

Where do dreams go
  once you’ve dreamt them

Where do feelings go
  once you’ve felt them

Where does pain go
  once you’ve suffered it all

Where do memories go
  —once you’re gone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

Poetic editor
—literary oxymoron

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)

One word an eternity,
  one feeling sublime

One wish an epiphany,
—one choice then divine

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

One day beyond mourning, a new sun to shine
a promise remade, not a cloud in the sky

One day beyond mourning, your spirit still warm
your flesh now at rest, on the hill past the barn

One day beyond mourning, the bed sheets unfold
your shadow uncovered, and now mine to hold

One day beyond mourning, the sun in my eyes
  new words in my heart—a mockingbird cries

One day beyond mourning, my soul free to roam
  your paintings surround me, among them I’m home

One day beyond mourning, I walk to the field
our blanket still hanging, the oak that concealed

One day beyond mourning, I reset my sights
  the day I’ll rejoin you, that heavenly flight

One day beyond mourning, all will broken free
  my name on the wind—as you call out to me

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

To pierce todays attention span,
  fewer words are best

A point honed sharp for one deep ******,
  —one is all you’ll get

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Sleeping through forgiveness...
  I’m re-invoiced by the pain

The nightmare real, escape undone,  
  the reasons all to blame

Trapped within my memory,
  each image haunts and preys

Excuses gone as judgment reigns
  —one final bill to pay

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

See with two eyes
Think with both brains
Speak in many voices
—but love with one heart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Two hearts met as children,
  from both we would hide

To now share the loneliness,
  of one final goodbye

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016

Left just one chance
  to gild the night

One kiss,
… before you leave

8th Grade Poetry Contest
St Thomas Of Villanova Grade School
May, 1962

One last poem in the waning light,
  one last poem I’ve yet to write

One last poem to end it all,
  one last poem the future calls

One last poem the past repeats,
  one last poem tomorrow speaks

One last poem the old renewed,
—one last poem my work is through

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

When the world becomes heavy,
  take it inside

When the waves breach the levee,
  take it inside

When she just won’t stop asking,
  take it inside

When a friend is unmasking,
  take it inside

When the children have gone,
  take it inside

When the bad guys have won,
  take it inside

When the armies advance,
  take it inside

When you haven’t a chance,
  take it inside

When night lays unclaimed,
  take it inside

When excuses are blamed,
  take it inside

When the money’s all spent,
  take it inside

When your emotion’s been lent,
  take it inside

When the mime begins talking,
  take it inside

When the end comes back knocking,
  take it inside

When the music plays hollow,
  take it inside

When the Angels build lean-to’s,
  take it inside

When the berries have been picked,
  take it inside

When the Pope throws a fit,
  take it inside

When the words just won’t come,
  take it inside

When the choice zero-sum,
  take it inside

   “Inside there’s a fortress,
      with ramparts of light

   “One choice beyond choosing,
    —one vision beyond sight”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)