Not because

I’m perfect

But because

I am not

The upside

of failure

My destiny

wrought

Inside

those pieces

That crumble

and fall

My essence

rebuilds

And legacy

— calls

(Dreamsleep: November, 2026)

If you live

long enough

the worst

will come true

The end

when in focus

a permanent

view

Crossing the

last milestone

protection

is gone

And travel

uncharted

through

— a darkening dawn

(Dreamsleep: November, 2026)

The Grizzly

and Tiger

face off

alone

A zero sum

outcome

with one

going home

The Cat’s time

is short

to strike

vital and quick

The Bear

whose endurance

and legend

persist

Fear without

factor

in either

domain

As stealth

battles strength

 the winner

— to claim

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

They come to me

gifted

Unknown

in the night

To capture

my psyche

With power

and might

Unleashed

in those moments

When things

are unclear

Rewrapping

the pauses

As treasures

— endeared

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

Not a student

of poetry

A sage

of the poem

Words born

expressive

With feeling

atone

Sans critique

and pro forma

Where acolytes

deign

True prescience

in writing

Beyond tender

— or claim

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

Lost

In the tinder

Forever

Corrupt

Time

Better served

Writing verse

And its such

Their lies

Stack like kindling

In a political

Pyre

As my ears

Open inward

Relighting

— the fire

(The New Room: October, 2026)

Only one choice

takes you

all the way back

Where memory

and promise

are wedded intact

That step through

the maelstrom

conviction proclaimed

To moments

still virgin

— and waiting ordained

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

A poetic

demon

hides deep

in the brain

To plunder

our memory

the past

it disdains

It lingers

and looms

as it waits

to attack

Killing

our history

no dream

— left unhacked

(The New Room: October, 2026)

Death’s Encore

Person by person

Death settles in

Shrouding each coffin

Death starts to sing

Death walks onstage

Death takes a bow

Death does an encore

— death standing proud

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

Waiting Silent

Anyone can love

the Mona Lisa or Pieta’

But a crumbling adobe shrine

in Kayenta softly calls

The history it has seen

marking seasons that unfold

Awaits our veneration

— in a silence yet untold

(Kayenta Arizona / Monument Valley: October, 2026)

The Circle

The end begets

a new beginning

to rise

amongst the fall

The circle

closing on itself

with life and death

— recalled

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)

Be mindful 

of the shadow

destroying

the self

Its conspiracy

of silence

hides deeply

indwelt

No light

or direction

can fill

its domain

With fear

as its captive

shading joy

— into pain

(Dreamsleep: October, 2026)