All Verses Called Back

Will your writing change when death comes to call,

knowing it’s time for goodbye

 

Will each word become richer, each memory dear,

in the limited by and by

 

As finality beckons, will conviction resolve,

 each day meaning more than the last

 

Your faith shaken then stirred, all verses called back

—eternity’s epitaph

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

The Joker’s Curse

Does life resemble a deck of cards,

shuffled back and forth

 

On brighter days with Ace’s high,

dark days the Joker’s curse

 

And what about that Wild Card,

that one you can’t be sure

 

If it will serve to win the day

—or fold your hand once more

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

Left Unsung

Do you see yourself inside your dream,

or chasing close behind

 

Is your love unquestioned, given free,

or bartered, contract signed

 

Are your lyrics empty without applause,

audience on the run

 

Will the future ransom a past still lost

—the moment left unsung

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

To Call From Within

Each mind is a filter…

the wheat from the chaff

 

Each vision dissected,

to cry or to laugh

 

Each chance in the moment,

to live or to hide

 

Each reason a marker,

to vow or belie

 

Each leaf that has fallen,

the price that we’ve paid

 

Each morning recalling,

which bed is unmade

 

Each voice in the distance,

one name on the wind

 

Each memory unspoken

—to call from within

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)

Lost In Refrain

Do you have enough stories,

have you told enough tales

 

Is your life overflowing,

with a need to regale

 

Have the roses you’ve smelled,

lined your heart or your mind

 

Is the path that you’ve chosen,

ahead or behind

 

Is your life worth a novel,

or even a poem

 

Are the years all connected,

or scattered and broken

 

If you leave only money,

or fortune, or fame

 

The last chapter unwritten

—and lost in refrain

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2019)