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)

In his
indecision
he changed
again
Only to
become more
of what he had
— never been

(Dreamsleep: January, 2025)

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)

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)

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)

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)

A Hall of Mirrors
ill conceived
With dark reflections
to deceive
From front or back
and side to side
Each look impounds
what time proscribes

Were you looking in
or looking out
When Alice voiced
her final shout
A dozen clonings
a thousand views
The glass your jailer
— in silver hues

(Dreamsleep: June, 2025)

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)

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)

Speculation is to the truth
—as opinion is to belief

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2017)

In search of my shadow
in the torrent of kings
I wade through the current
of all other things

Alone treading water
my essence bemired  
This river a dungeon
of banished desire

I reach out to grab it
it motions away
To outline my image
while swirling at bay

And not till I’m sinking
does it buoy my form
To chase was my folly
—now rescued reborn

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Tomorrow’s lullaby
in footnotes to Dylan
Tomorrow blistering
confronting the sun

Tomorrow lingering
while calling your name
Temptation disguising
what’s never to come

Tomorrow’s redemption
the present to ransom
Tomorrow in voices
a chorus of ghosts

Tomorrow forgiving
each sin of unmaking
Tormenting each moment
—you treasure the most

(Dreamsleep: November, 2022)

Stop searching for Divinity
—become Divine

(Villanova University: February, 2017)

Up is not a direction,
but an intention

Down is not an intention,
but a reflection

Across is neither
intention nor reflection

Towards—a new connection
better bred

(Dreamsleep: November, 2020)

Touching
without feeling
Looking
without seeing
Talking
without saying
Lost
— in the dark

(Villanova University: February, 2024)

Two halves
from the middle
each end joins the past
Memory’s essence
the moment recast

Each second
or hour
lost victims of fate
Time off the table
— not early or late

(Dreamsleep: June, 2025)