A garden gate unlocked but rusted shut
evokes what memory plays on stringless lyres
Between the furrowed hedgerows standing witness
there lives a fated wish of heart’s desire
Alone unvisited throughout the seasons
to weather scorching sun — inclement rain
The loneliness of what once was grows ere despondence
waiting on an unkept promise made in vain
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Blues Poem #26
Everybody wants
to go to heaven
But nobody
wants to die
Everybody wants
the mojo queen
Who rides in
on the moonlight tide
Everybody wants
to go to heaven
But nobody
wants to die
Ain’t a woman been made
who won’t steal your soul
and keep you
— half alive
(Tribute To Albert King)
Blues Poem #27
An aging
harp player
trying to bend
the next reed
New breath
in the shadows
where servitude
bleeds
His hands
old and wrinkled
each note
a new plea
And out
of the darkness
his riff
— sets you free
(Tribute To Sonny Terry: March, 2026)
Your mind
won’t understand it
but your feelings will
In touch
with the magic
— forever instilled
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Falling back
into
the abyss
of myself
The depths
stay unmeasured
a bottomless
hell
Light
into darkness
sun
into rain
Spiritual
guidance
a dying
refrain
An echoing
canyon
where fate
goes to die
As demons
lie waiting
and destiny
— cries
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
And he wished
just once too often …
always failing
in refrain
That the times
would now absolve him
for a past
he hid in shame
And he wished
one final pleading …
an attempt
to bend the reed
To a future
unforgiving
where his hopes and dreams
— still bleed
(Sausalito: June, 1984)
WHY
Three letters
commanding attention
Three letters
the bone of contention
One syllable
bigger than Everest
One syllable
birthing our interest
Questioning forward
questioning back
Answering tightly
answering slack
Words that fall silent
words that delight
Trapdoor to darkness
— gateway to light
WHY
(The New Room: March, 2026)
The devil walked
behind me
to that crossroads
in the dark
He said …
“Give me that
old gitar son
I’ll reignite
its spark
“But once I do
the die is cast
those licks
in Hades rhymed
“Now go and set
the world on fire
your soul
— forever mine”
(Listening To Robert Johnson: March, 2026)
John Lee, Wolf,
and Muddy knew
the rails could
set you free
Direction
but an afterthought
when tracks
forever lead
To where the music
calls your name
in box cars
down the line
With darkened Angels
heading home
deliverance
— there to find
(Kingston Mines Chicago: January, 1996)
Excellent lies
terrible truths
Moment’s sublime
— joined at the root
(Dreamsleeep: March, 2026)
Confronting Tomorrow
Persuading
my curiosity
to counter my fear
I looked beyond the fray
Never being sure
I was dead or alive
the crossroads of tomorrow
— to enter or stay
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Before Fate
How many times
must you lip sync
your schtick
to finally get it right
How many lies
must forever
be told
to block the brightest light
How many lovers
must swim
in your wake
eventually to drown
How many times
must you rebait
the trap
— before its fate impounds
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Surrendering All
Escaping deep
into my art
without an exit
shown
Surrendering
what’s yet to come
for this one moment
shown
Escaping in
to venture forth
the one-way signs
abound
Surrendering all
to win at last
what prescience
— will impound
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Sentience
The journey
is the destination
Each step
tomorrow gleaned
All glory
for dishonor’s sake
As sentience
takes the lead
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Distant Thunder
If Morrison
returned
would the desert
repair
Would lizards
still hide
in forbidden
night lairs
Their King
they await
like groupies
in heat
To re-shed
their skins
then gather
to greet
The one
who had freed them
then left them
forlorn
Who slithers
inside them
the eye
— of the storm
(Joshua Tree National Monument: March, 1981)
Square Root Of The Present
Time is now
whose moment refrains
The instant upon us
— as reference abstains
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
An Anthology Of Perception 