The Devil’s Workshop
has open hours
His staff is loyal
and share his powers
The Devil’s Workshop
when idle claims
The lost and truant
— with tools aflame
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
Eclipsed In The Moment
All words
despite their
intention …
the silence reborn
All wishes
real and
imagined
in hope they are formed
All time
eclipsed in the
moment
forever refrains
All paths
regardless
of waypoint
— lead back to the grave
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
Judas Thaddeus
I heard
what you said
But not
what you meant
Your words
but a smokescreen
Belying
intent
Each one
deftly crafted
To lure
and delude
Anointing
your weakness
Blaspheming
— Saint Jude
(Chicago’s South Side: July, 2026)
Reach
It’s not
what it is
or what
it isn’t …
But what
it
forever
— could be
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
DelMarVa Dream
Success
is no more emails
Not one
throughout the day
No beeps
and no vibrations
to clutter up
the quay
My sails are up
the winds are fair
distractions
far abeam
No G.P.S.
or radar
To chart
— this sailor’s dream
(Annapolis To Bermuda: August, 2005)
Fool Them Once — Fool Them Twice
Oh Bernie, Bernie
as crooked
thou art
Thy wife
more dishonest
filling up thy cart
A noble pair
thoust do
protest
Within
thy harvest
and monied chest
To hide among
a lost
enclave
With fortunes
promise
most illy made
Behind thy mask
corruption
flames
Thy hoax
to bear
— eternal shame
(The New Room: July, 2026)
The Lost Dominion
Nobody wants
to be here
But no one
ever leaves
Nothing lasts
forever
But forever
will deceive
Nowhere is that
foreign place
That lives inside
us all
Where from the lost
dominion
The devil
— makes his call
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
The Man Who Would Not Be King
We became
a republic
when Washington
said ‘NO’
“Only debate
and compromise
hold a democracy
together”
Every man
given power
is at risk
to abuse it
Three branches
of government
our Founder’s
great gift
Ambition
counters ambition
when authority
is shared
To check and
to balance
as the voters
— hold sway
(America’s 250th: July, 2026)
El Maestro
“Stop managing
and start racing”
Fangio said to himself
Victory lies
in the seat
of your pants
The best laid plans
the strategists
map out
Go silent
when dancing
the dance
A driver knows best
when the margins
are small
In hundredths
the outcome
depends
One choice dearly made
defying
the grave
Keeps a winner
in laurels
— again”
(Memories Of Juan Manuel: July, 2026)
Westerly Winds
The passions
that divided us
when we were young
Bring us back
together
when old
The bias
the malice
the pain and the hurt
The years
in their wisdom
remold
What once
seemed important
and drove us apart
Transformed
like a westerly
wind
To finish
our days
attached at the hip
Umbilically
joined
— from within
(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)
No Longer Sacred
A man
is not what
he wants to be
but what he has to be
A dream
no longer
the dreamers
leaving our sleep undreamed
A vow
no longer
a promise
when fidelity has died
And trust
no longer
sacred
— when intent becomes a lie
__________
The Past
I lost you to love
you left me for dead
Before moving on
and leaving our bed
That dream that we shared
no longer alive
The present imperfect
— the past but a lie
________
The Baby’s Bathwater
The worst form
of delusion
is self-delusion
The worst form
of denial
denying what’s felt
The worst form
of deception
is self-deception
The worst form
of rejection
— rejecting the self
________
Shoo
Those who can …
do
Those who can’t …
mime
Go paint your face
for one who cares
As blissfully
— I rhyme
________
Doomed To Repeat
Crying about
the effects of war
will never stop
or prevent them
Evil inside
the human mind
violence births
its fatal intention
The best laid plans
a pathway to hell
devoid of
any action
Asleep at the switch
its gene still in place
to surface again
— in greed’s superfaction
________
Endure
Disagree
without being
disagreeable
Resist
without burning
it down
Commit
without being
a fanatic
Endure
without wearing
— a frown
(The New Room: July, 2026)
An Anthology Of Perception 