Cliff edge narrows, steps in place
danger looming strong
Height above me terror laced
searching right from wrong
Summit beckons, flag to place
and leave my name among
Flocks of pilgrims reaching grace
—to finally belong

(The New Room: July, 2022)

Tears from a straw,
heartache from a tumbler

Ice from a memory
—fire from my heart

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

Death sleeps in my bed
a lover untouched
Betrothed to my longing
a ****** as such
She waits for a signal
as time closes in
To open her wings
— and fly me to Him

(1st Book Of Prayers: August, 2024)

Neither worth the breath
of one muted bard…

Nor worth the time
of a chance denial

(Dreamsleep: February, 2022)

Shooting my classmate’s brother
(that war within a war)
I sat next to him at The Point
still targeting him sure
More than blood will flow this day
memory also dies
As honor sells its soul in vain
— each headstone marks the lie

(Maryville Tennessee: March, 1999)

The greater the love
—the shorter the trip

(Dreamsleep: April, 2022)

My life,
  dumped onto paper

My love,
  deep in the beer

The years,
  a fateful mirror

With time now short
  —and dear

(Memories Of The Main Point: November, 1972)
         ‘Dinner With Jerry Jeff Walker’

Eenie, Meenie, Miny, Mo,
drums beat loud, a finger shows
Tigers prowl within our reach
—on tippytoes our fate impeached

(Dreamsleep: October, 2021)

He burned the book on the second day,
its truth not till the third
but in between–his memory screamed,
forever to be heard

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: December, 2021)

Tripping over my shadow,
guilt darkened the night

The devil bespoken,
fear burning bright

Stepping into the darkness,
one chance to look back

Light shouting farewell
—as panic attacked

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)

It’s getting late early…
as I wait for the end to begin
Time folding within itself,
shedding its last skin

It’s getting late early…
a lost voice sings my final reward
The outer door shuttered tight
—darkness untoward

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2020)

Keeping it to yourself,
while giving it away

Only poetry is split,
and structured this way

Keeping it to yourself,
then passing the torch

A deft oxymoron,
as light is re-sourced

(Dreamsleep: March, 2020)

Divinity’s candle
stays burning alive
not born or created
conceived or contrived

Its light from the center
forever shines through
the moment’s unveiling
delivering you

To places all knowing
through spaces unknown
the mix in the crucible
its myth to atone

The vision self-granted
when time is deposed
confirmed refutation
— with nothing to know

(Villanova University: January, 2024)

The color of trouble
—the smell of goodbye

(Dreamsleep: December, 2019)

It’s hard to ask the right questions,
their answers easier made

The hammer cocked, the truth in sight
—through crosshairs query bade

(Radnor Pennsylvania: January, 2020)

It’s 2:00 a.m. in the darkness,
and I’m lost in who I am

The night little comfort against a dawn,
that waits for me again

It’s 2:00 a.m. in reflection,
the past chasing a future dream

All memory conjoined, controverted,
the morning—sight unseen

(Dreamsleep: November, 2019)

Immaculate perception
its vision so pure
Beyond all deception
adroitly demurred
A birth without legacy
an orphan unnamed
Judgment abandoned
—redemption proclaimed

(Dreamsleep: September, 2022)

The part you transform
is that part you possess
The rest is pure folly
—petals scattered to the wind

(Dreamsleep: April, 2022)

Keep your words close
—but silence closer

(Grantham New Hampshire: July, 2016)

Make friends of the deaf
they never hear thy questions
And marry the blind widow
to find thy way

Listen to the speechless
their message eternal
The prophets resounding
—thy destiny laid

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

Writing the lines,
one word remains absent

To give the verse promise,
new voices to fill

Speaking my heart,
I pause before ending

Taking a breath
—as the silence distills

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Double parked
in a no-comment zone
A writer sat quiet
unheard and alone

Idling vacant
the needle on E
Silence impended  
no crossing of T’s

Given to vagrancy
nothing else left
Sounds in the distance
begone and bereft

A Muse but a figment
of something not heard
His vacuous instant
—devoid of the word

(Dreamsleep: January, 2023)

Unchained from the structure,
  enslaved by the words

My voice to the wind
  —freeing silence unheard

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

Released from
the inferno
Tongue of Satan
to betray
Saving words
from his fury
Muting the serpent
—today

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

The aftermath
of war …
the only
true peace  

(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)

Where would we be without language,
still naked around the fire

Trading bones with a grunt or moan,
very little to inspire

How could we live without meaning,
every question held at bay

Our futures dark, discovery stark,
all knowledge yea or nay

In a world without transcendence,
harboring ignorance and fright

All answers buried within lost words
—silent in the night

(Wayne Pennsylvania: August, 2019)

The thicker the spirit,
the thinner the bars

That tiger once captive,
now roaming afar

His eyes stalk the distance,
between hoping and fear

Preying deeply inside us
—eternally near

(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)

Oftentimes, what doesn’t get said
—makes the loudest sound

(Hotel Majestic Saigon, Vietnam: January, 2014)

External conflict
(versus)
self-disaffection

The first a misdemeanor
(the second)
a higher crime

Inarticulate
powerful yearnings
trapped in between

Inarticulate
powerful yearnings
—of that forever lost

(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)

Mortality
fills our lives
with meaning

Procrastination
the future’s  
bane

Today is prized
tomorrow
questioned

The moment’s
treasure
— our souls to claim

(Dreamsleep: October, 2024)

Living inside a memory,
dying within a dream

Reality turned against itself
—nothing what it seems

(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)

Time,
the moving image
of eternity

Having no
beginning
and no end

Confounding
every mind
that begs to question

Shaping
all there is
within its bend

(Dreamsleep: May, 2021)

Plagiarism self-inflicted,
it blinds veracity
keeping us forever
in the dark
To wander in costume
as others unnamed,
their vision
to herald and hark
In shadows of obscurity
doubt crossing fear,
we steal
what can’t be bought
Reflecting false images
by our hand
chasing
—what can’t be caught

(Radnor Pennsylvania: March, 2021)

The largest rock I stand upon
is anonymity

Lodged within the silence
of myself

Calling from those distant lands
in names left blank and mute

Insuring my obscurity
—unknown but deeper felt

(Dreamsleep: November, 2020)

Giving no thought
to yesterday
invested in
tomorrow
Memories pave
the road behind
with joy that’s
wrapped in sorrow

Giving no weight
to seasons past
this moment my
new entry
Calling me on
replaying that song
whose lyrics
— redefine me

(Anthology Of Perception: September, 2024)

Speculation is to the truth
—as opinion is to belief

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

Reaching through the Biosphere,
I touched the hand of God

Who turned me around and pushed me back,
inside my inner pod

Letting me go with these final words,
transcending into self…

“Your search is to end where you began
—your heart and mind to meld”

(The Book Of Prayers: October, 2020)