Falling In Line

Having a purpose

you don’t need a friend

Being impassioned

the beginning can’t end

 

Having a vision

the world falls in line

Being self-chosen

— all moments to rhyme

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

From You

 

Rather than write

to an academic standard

I prefer sharing language with you

 

Rather than dance

the dilettante’s tango

I learn more slow waltzing anew

 

Rather than say

what my life means in reference

intrinsically one voice is heard

 

Rather than live

for a stranger’s acceptance

from you — just three little words

 

(Poems Of Love: June, 2026)

The Food Court

Daddy

where is America

the ten-year-old asked

My teacher says

 it’s in Washington

on a paper behind glass

My coach says

it’s on Sundays

when the Green Bay Packers play

My friend’s uncle says

 Indianapolis

during the last week of May

Grandpa says

it’s July 4th

at the Veteran’s Parade

My bus driver says

it’s the Unions

and the working man’s wage

But where is it Dad

they all say

different things

Where can I see

America

in one place — as one thing

Grab your coat

Bobby

and let’s take a ride

And to a

large mall

 they both ventured inside

Are you

hungry my boy

the father said to his son

You’ve got

choices galore

and can pick from each one

And as they

sat down

the father said from his chair

Look around you

my son

— this is America squared

 

(King Of Prussia Mall: June, 2026)

 

 

  

The Devil’s Edge

Guarding

our bitters

Each wrong

we have suffered

Enshrined

in our memory

Alive

in our souls

 

Forgiveness

a myth

The weak

will hold onto

Revenge

all the sweeter

Served hot

— and not cold

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026) 

 

Like Masks

 

Forget

being clever

abandon

the word

 

Being cute

more offensive

its pander

absurd

 

They serve

as a mask

that we cower

behind

 

To proffer

deception

we harbor

— inside

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

Sound Bites: (6-23-2026)

Window Dressers

 

Running

 different

than reigning

 

Politicians

shortly

 find

 

Chasing the vote

versus

crossing the moat

 

Very few

able

— fewer to thrive

 

**********

 

Narrative Rewarded

 

Like weight training

for an athlete

poetry makes you strong

 

Each word a rep

till failure

to bring your lines along

 

A verses strength

increases

when flexed the story bold

 

With narrative

enrichened

— the poetry like gold

 

************

 

Venture Forth

 

My treasure hidden

beyond the waves

the horizon

beckons on

 

Through pounding surf

and giant seas

a voice

is calling strong

 

I set my sail

the closest reach

with tiller

in both hands

 

On faith alone

round jagged reefs

I trust

in who I am

 

Through longish days

and longer nights

my course

uncharted stays

 

The mainsail up

the jib reset

one albatross

relays

 

That fortune comes

but once in life

to those who hear

its call

 

And venture forth

through unknown winds

into

— the raging squall

 

***********

 

Spiritual Chrysalis

 

Losing oneself

to find oneself

Emptiness cowers

— catharsis begins

 

********

Devil At The Gate

 

Loyal

when it suits you

Faithful

when it’s safe

Committed

to the mirrored self

 Devil

at the gate

 

Back turned

to the prophet

Fealty

starts to burn

Treason

left on high display

Shame

— at every turn

 

********

 

Poet & Prophet

 

Today

is all that matters

Memory

your biggest foe

 

Mining the pathway

to future promise

Excuse and weakness

grow

 

Time an illusion

a crutch for the weak

To hobble and stumble

in constant retreat

 

This moment recurring

endemic when willed

the poet and prophet

— forever instilled

 

*********

  

Never To Return

 

If the past is empty inside you

— the future will be lost

 

*********

 

Resistance Ignored

 

The world

 quickly bored

at the recital

of misfortune

 

And most

willingly avoids

the sight

of distress

 

The path

of resistance

ignored

at its peril

                                                                           

All character

only tempered

when put

— to the test

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Limits On The Freedom Of Expression

Current academic thought is like an alphabet where certain letters are being attacked and removed.  You can’t have freedom of expression by censoring letters and voices you don’t like or agree with.  Every time it’s been tried, it ultimately fails.  Freedom of expression is what has made America great and stands as a threat to totalitarian societies like Russia, China, and Iran.  A minus sign always takes you backward where a plus sign expands.  The answers lie in an ever-expanding mixture of ideas and beliefs living together for their mutual benefit where new words are created by more letters — not less.

 

As children develop language skills and learn to read, their minds expand and the world opens up around them —and more importantly, inside them.  Language becomes the great liberator that rescues children from the darkness of ignorance and obscurity, and when freely allowed to develop and expand, it creates free-thinking adults that become literate, prescient, moral, and wise.  It can’t happen any other way.

 

These lessons are everywhere in nature.  When water is free-flowing and unobstructed, it is at its cleanest and most beneficial state. When blocked up and constrained, it becomes stagnant, polluted, and undrinkable.  Festered with alkali, it can bring on sickness and death.  When trees and flowers are openly exposed to the wonder of the sky and the sun’s rays, they grow tall and expand.  Deprive them of that and they will slowly wither and die.  Both fish and mammals grow bigger when raised in open spaces that allow them to roam naturally and reach their full potential.

 

For our children to grow and expand into happy and productive people, we can’t let anyone, or anything, take away or limit their means of free expression.

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)  

 

 

In Solace

I live in an aura

of prolonged isolation

On the edge of the city

my hermitage thrives

 

Alone with my thoughts

the world but an orphan

In solace indentured

— I serve and I thrive

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

  

When Least Expected

 

Out of left field

or deep in the night

The words come unbidden

as welcome delights

 

Not knowing the minute

or hour they’re born

They enter my consciousness

raw unadorned

 

When trying to call them

they often ignore

My summons and pleadings

that knock on their door

 

But when least expected

their gift a surprise

The breath I’ve been missing

— that keeps me alive

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

 

 

To Dream

 

Teach them

to wonder

And teach them

to search

Teach them

to love

As you teach them

— to dream

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

  

Never Let Time

 

Never let fear

determine

your future

 

Never let distance

turn you

away

 

Never let critics

dissuade

or discourage

 

Never let time

with its limits

— betray

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only A Poet

Before Its Asking

 

Only a Poet

can grow lilies

in the asphalt

 

Only a Poet

can dry laundry

in the rain

 

Only a Poet

can answer a question

before asking

 

Only a Poet

can cheat death

— from the grave

 

**********

 

The Bravado Of Pander

 

Self-endowed warriors

skirt the edges of danger

Lost approbation

their instincts to hunt

Dodging slings and arrows

of outraged propriety

The bravado of their pander

— in love with itself

 

*********

 

Lost Aspiration

 

Freedom

 an outrage

to those

in their prisons

 

Its arrogance

and swagger

threatens

their bars

 

To wander

a cell

their chosen

vocation

 

In lost

aspiration

 dying forever

— alone

 

**********

 

Everest Measures

 

The great majority

content to be average

But a few stir their actions

to test limits and law

 

The difference between

the strongest and weakest

Everest measures

— and Sir Edmond recalled

 

**********

 

Dicere Maximus

 

Say It Big

Say It Bigger

Say It Biggest

— BUT SAY IT

 

********

 

Foretelling

 

The magic portendo

seducing the stillness

Alone in the shadows

— at home in the dark

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked In The Pudding

 

Poetry — Easy

Poetry — Hard

Words — To Decide

Truth — Zero Sum

 

**********

 

Free To Disagree

 

We don’t always agree

but are free to take issue

With differing minds

— that our Founder’s defend

 

**********

 

First & Last

 

Say something …

with every word

 spoke or then written

heard or unheard

With every word

free a new moment

Eternally prescient

— divorcing from time

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2026)

 

 

 

‘The Verdict’

In the judgment of ghosts

my hope is retried

Forgiven or not

their will to decide

 

To ever move on

or be damned here to stay

To wander my failings

mistakes on display

 

They fly through my present

back into my past

Not missing a nuance

of slippage I’ve cast

 

Returning my sentence

their jury unhung

Pronouncing the verdict

— my fate zero sum

 

********

 

 

 

Memory Lingers

 

Impropriety

the soul of wit

Audacity

its memory lingers

Incongruity

the leak that drips

Banality

— its bee unstingered

 

*******

 

God’s Nation

 

At the country’s

bicentennial

I came

of age

 

A hard bitten

patriot

and liberty

sage

 

Two hundred

years won

through blood

will and pain

 

To shine

in the glory

 God’s nation

— ordained

 

************

 

The Ivory Tower

 

Did you hear

your favorite student

when he spoke

his truth to power

 

Or when he challenged

what you said

high up

the ivory tower

 

Do you miss him now

that he has gone

into a world

unclaimed

 

And free of what

your words did spew

in pander

— false proclaimed

 

**********

 

Gears Enmesh

 

You can sulk

and brood

with Achilles heel

to sit detached in place

 

Or live in neutral

disengaged

to stay outside

the race

 

But one free choice

can change all that

to track uncovered

ground

 

When gears enmesh

to set you free

and turn your world

— around

 

(The New Room: June, 2026)