Sound Bites 4-8-2026

The Dark Side

 

Freedom

is damned

by its own

proclamation

 

Where choices

once good

turn away

from the truth

 

Freedom

of speech

not just for

the righteous

 

Self-serving

subversion

alive

— to pursue

 

**

 

Fading To Black

 

Time

weaves loss

into the dormant

mind

 

Caught in

abeyance

vacuum

— entwined

 

(Dreamsleep: April, 2026)

 

 

**

 

 

To Set Free

 

Once they are read

words become language

Language becomes freedom

— enlightenment fed

 

 

**

 

 

Lost In Reference

 

All the time

I spent remiss

Comparing

the comparisons

 

All the time

I spent vacant

Lost

— to myself

 

**

 

New Arrivals

 

Unphased

and rephrased

 old words become new

 

Repurposed

with feeling

as Sages review

 

Intrepid

endemic

the passion preserved

 

For those

new arrivals

— who search underserved

 

 

**

 

 

Ellis Island

 

Its hope

is unfettered

beyond tyranny

or fear

 

The gateway

to freedom

its port

— to endear

 

 

**

 

 

Wasted Breath

 

“This Has To Stop”

is never enough

the words are

empty still

 

“This Has To Stop”

a wasted breath

of status quo

— distilled

 

**

 

 

To The Political Elites

 

I don’t buy

what you’re selling

I won’t sing

in your choir

I can’t kneel

at your altar

I serve truth

— not a liar

 

 

**

 

 

Steps Determine

 

Right foot inside

the circle

left foot out

 

Left foot inside

the circle

right foot out

 

Inside

outside

steps determine

 

Acceptance

rejection

— inside out

 

**

 

 

Surviving The Forest

 

Grow wild

according to thy nature

And slay the waiting demon

of fates revenge

 

To worship

at the highest altar

Above alpine meadows

— where the heart befriends

 

**

 

Sands Of Time

 

The hourglass

empties

Each day

valued more

 

To savor

and treasure

This moment

— endures

 

(Dreamsleep: April, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

Love Train

Aretha, Marvin

and Smokey form

 the Rushmore Mount

of soul

 

James Brown

the elder statesman

Etta James

her voice of gold

 

Prince and

Jimmy Ruffin

there standing in

the wings

 

Curtis Mayfield

‘It’s All Right’

The Windy City

brings

 

Al Green

is for the ladies

with fantasy

in song

 

Glady’s Knight

the smoothest silk

with Ben E. King

along

 

Levi Stubbs

and Martha Reeves

still warming up

out back

 

As Stevie Wonder

and Michael J

keep soul’s love train

— on track

 

(Memory Of The O’Jays At The Uptown Theater: April, 1971)

 

Quips 4-6-2026

An Ec Dote

 

All carbs on the table

hunger in the bank

More or less disabled

— nothing in the tank

 

**

 

To Simmer Or Boil

 

Poetry important

prose lesser so

Each word a keystone

to hold or let go

 

Nothing redundant

no fill in the stew

The meaning dependent

— on stirrings anew

 

**

 

 

Access Denied

 

Deaf to that ear

Blind to that eye

Numb to that touch

— senses denied

 

**

 

Morning Prayer

 

Conviction relighting

tomorrow’s lost candle …

Through darkness and doubt

— indecision in flames

 

**

 

‘A View From The Bridge’

 

Lyrical playwright

tragedy staged

Actor’s harmonic

— script to betray

 

**

 

Uncomfortable Truth

 

I’m not

divorced …

I’m just not married

— anymore

 

**

 

Piercing The Veil

 

Hearing it

clearly

Hearing it

plain

Goodbye

is what’s spoken

For all

— you can’t say

 

**

 

Crossing Over

 

Being different

to be different

creates more of the same

 

True genius

crossing over

redefining the game

 

When the road

takes a fork

most commonfolk choose

 

With the Sage

going straight

— indecision removed

 

**

 

Ergo Sum

 

Embracing

what’s presented

You become

— what you know

 

**

 

 

Fluid Contention

 

Whisky’s

for drinking

Water’s

— for fighting over

 

**

 

 

Reverso

 

So often …

the dumber you act

— the smarter you think you are

 

**

 

 

To Forgive

 

You can’t rebuild

a friendship

by ignoring

what’s destroyed

 

You can’t forgive

injustice

with spite and hate

— deployed

 

**

 

 

Mea Culpability

 

You don’t have to

agree with me

But you’re responsible

— for your words

 

**

 

 

New Clothes For The Emperor

 

Sounding smart

over being smart

Dilettante’s pander

— with truth on parade

 

**

 

Rising Above

 

Consensus

on the chopping block

Contention

in the throes

King Solomon

denuding both

Dogmatic

— he bestows

 

(Dreamsleep: April, 2026)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amongst The Ruins

Shadows befalling

a dark afternoon

And veiling destruction

the end coming soon

 

A boy and his dog

in the rubble at play

The body’s — toy soldiers

in silence they lay

 

Then one plane approaches

flying lower than most

Its bomb bay doors open

its payload to roast

 

A target that’s cross-haired

with ordnance bound

As a boy and dog play

— where death will impound

 

(To All Children Of War: April, 2026)

 

Sound Bites 4-4-2026

Dark Raven

 

In the beginning

there was hope …

there was hope

in the beginning

 

Soaring like an eagle shepherding the doves

 

Then man became

a king …

became a king

in his portending

 

Soaring like a falcon preying on the doves

 

Until pride became

his lord …

became his lord

in the undoing

 

Falling into darkness from salvation high above

 

In his self-inflicted

fate …

inflicted fate

his reign was ending

 

Falling a dark raven through the light of Heaven’s love

 

**

 

Finding Your Base

 

First

Last

And always

— pick your arena

 

**

 

Lost In The Throes

 

To me

it’s about imagery

damn the torpedoes …

damn the line structure

poems or prose

 

To me

it’s the metaphor

damning the simile …

damning the grammar

— lost in the throes

 

**

 

 

Manus Ad Manus

 

The hand that opens widest

— rocks the cradle

 

**

 

Boomerang

 

Debating yourself

a losers folly

Debating yourself

— new spit in the wind

 

**

 

My Honor

 

You might be

my ally

But you’re not

on my side

A formal

arrangement

An unmarried

bride

 

You say

you are loyal

In liege

to the same

But when push

comes to shove

My honor

— you’ll claim

 

**

 

 Right Always Right

 

Can anything get done

without being autocratic

Can anything happen

when subject to vote

 

Did Our Lord become savior

by being democratic

Right always right

— never crossing the moat

 

**

 

Playing The Odds

 

Dotting the I’s

all Hell freezes over

Crossing the T’s

tomorrow is gone

 

Hedging your bets

the wolf edges closer

Playing the odds

— the right and the wrong

 

**

 

 

By Its Grace

 

I always said

I’d know

when it was time

for my last poem

 

And choosing

perfect rhyme

I would leave

forever knowing

 

The world

a better place

a warm embrace

with letters showing

 

That time

has set me free

and by its grace

— my aura glowing

 

**

 

 

Heads In The Sand

 

Our country has become

a nation of cowards

Valuing safety

over what’s right

 

Festering blindly

foes are emboldened

Our heads in the sand

— embracing the night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Father’s Goodbye

I am your father

I’ve always been here

You are my daughter

You are my son

 

I’ve never wavered

I’ve never questioned

You have been foremost

By far number one

 

But now I feel distant

Now I feel lonely

An inconvenience

Who no longer belongs

 

And soon I’ll be vacant

Gone to my maker

You both left to wonder

— the right and the wrong

 

(To Aging Parents Everywhere: April, 2026)