Hiding between imprisoned lines,
a fugitive of verse
turning my back on pleadings made,
musings that amerce  

The lengthy sentence of my mind,
fleeing my recall
to leave the spoken word confined
—released to scale the wall

(Dreamsleep: January, 2022)

The future hung desperately on to the past,
like a pilot fish to a whale
Swimming through the current of times gone by,
lost moments were impaled
The seconds ticked down, day blacker than night,
intention in denial
As deep in the din, voices cried from within
—eternity on trial

(The New Room: January, 2022)

Hard to love
—harder to know

(Dreamsleep: January, 2022)

Using the intellect
to understand God
A circle unending
no light in the fog

Our mind like a hammer
to pry and to nail
Constrained by our motion
and destined to fail

But deep in our essence
that we’ve named the soul
A voice is there calling
a bell waits to toll

To ring in tomorrow
with songs of today
Proclaiming the music
—our spirit’s ordained

(Beaupre: January, 2022)

Shedding a final tear
from the cellar of my pain
The walls close in the sorrow
imprisoning me again

Breathing a final sigh
into a memory you forget
My words trapped into silence
—alone with my regret

(The New Room: January, 2022)

Hear…
before speaking the words
unwritten

Speak…
after writing the words
unheard

(Hotel Majestic Saigon, Vietnam: January, 2014)

I hate the business of writing
the commerce of word craft
the tedium of publishing
the deadlines imposed

I hate the word count
the editing and proofing
the book signing travel
and agents exposed

I hate the promotion
each workshop and fair
the reviews and the podcasts
the bookstores that sell

But I love the writing
when the words come together
releasing my spirit
—my fortune to tell

(The New Room: January, 2022)