Do you synthesize your anger,
do you cauterize the burn

Do you anesthetize the wonder,
  when your dreams are left forlorn

Is your judgment tempered badly,
  with emotion fiery hot

Is your vision colored madly,
  by your choices—sold and bought

Does your music play reclusive,
do your words fall off the page

Does reason **** your last excuse,
—that one mask you can’t explain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)