Plus Or Minus

 

Is it a strength

or a weakness

not to know

when it’s over

 

Is it positive

or negative

the result

— zero sum

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

 

Divinity’s Harvest

 

The mills of God

grind slowly

The grist of

— Heaven’s delight

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

 

Springing Forth

 

Leaving the last

of our verses unfinished

With lines unwritten

for others to plead

A poem of hope

springs forth from the shadows

Where statements are doubted

— and wonder believed

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

  

Waiting For The Wind

Sails

 unhoisted

Folded

they wait

For wind

to unfurl them

As horizons 

— conflate

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

  

Rushing Past

 

Placing

a period on time

And a stop sign

on creation

We dally in place

— spitting into the wind

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

 

New Voices

 

Itinerant

air

Sacred in its

wandering

Searching for

new voices

Divorced

— from the wind

 

(Mariahan Memories: July, 2026)

 

Why & Where

 

We are here

who knows why

And we go

— who knows whither

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

 

 

 

Death

awaits thy coming

Life

to its transit befalls

 

Hearts

beat a countdown cadence

As feelings

— malinger and stall

 

********

 

Littering The Silence

 

There’s nothing

you’ve written

that I want

to read

 

Your words

like your thoughts

with pander

mislead

 

Intent

and delivery

are far from

the same

 

As you litter

the silence

to forever

— profane

 

**********

 

Straddling Wide

 

The rogue

the artist

and gentleman

belong to no one class

 

They straddle wide

the great divides

to dwell

— within the mass

 

***********

 

Defiance

 

Reviewers

of art

depressing

at best

Blue ribbon

or panned

a vacuous

quest

 

What’s written

or painted

sculpted

or sung

Stands in

defiance

of the dilettante’s

— tongue

 

********

 

Tempting What’s Hidden

 

The writer more focused

on knowing than judging

Each minute

confirming it’s so

 

The artist too busy

creation on fire

To stop and critique

what is known

 

This moment to value

more than diamonds or gold

Its gift but the present

on loan

 

To tempt what’s still hidden

to come out of the dark

And shower with greatness

— what’s shown

 

(The New Room: July, 2026)

 

 

 

Dig Deeper

 

When faced with an issue

cash won’t solve

— you haven’t got enough

 

********

 

One Thing

 

Forever

to question

Rebuking

the answers

In search of

that one thing

Defining

— the ask

 

********

 

Every Recall

 

Memories …

the only thing

we get to keep

Everything else

with time

retreats

Feelings

relived

in every recall

To cherish

or learn from

— the large and the small

 

********

 

A Dark Capitulation

 

One year

follows the next

Until death

comes to claim you

 

Though most

uninvited

Its presence

commands

 

A dark

capitulation

You follow

it downward

 

Where heat

from the shadows

its fire

— commands

 

********

 

Enemies Waiting

 

No one

escapes

from violence

unscathed

But no one

of valor

looks off

from the fray

Enemies

waiting

upon

the hard earth

Where living

or dying

to each

— has its worth

 

***********

 

Split Screen

 

Everything

and nothing

together at once

 

The horizon

keeps moving

—  duality’s myth

 

*********

 

Caught On A Tightrope

 

Campaigning

in poetry

Governing

in prose

A tongue

that’s been forked

Deceit

in the throes

 

Saying

but one thing

Doing

another

Caught

on a tightrope

Skirting

— forever

 

*******

 

Opposites

 

Just not

being wrong

will not

make you right

 

Opposites

joined

imploding

— on sight

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)

The Reefs Ahead

 

Her song is

playing

Your will

impaired  

 

To court

the Siren

of hope’s

— despair

 

********

 

The Fire Of Truth

 

“Wear a mask

long enough …

 you become

the mask

Tell a lie

long enough …

 you become

the lie”

 

Choosing deceit

as your clarion call

your soul is by fate

 forever to fall

Life without truth

 is but death on the wind

verity’s fire

— only burns from within

 

********

 

Graffiti

 

Cosmology

will never explain

the magic of

the universe

 

Astronomy

physics and math

combined

— but graffiti on the wall

 

*********

 

Memories Of Greg

 

Immersed

in sound

Inside of

the wave

 

My past

looms above

The future

to brave

 

Forty feet

down

And preparing

to drop

 

All time

in this moment

Where life

— can’t be bought

 

********

 

Headstones

 

Freedom

most coveted

when purchased

in blood

 

The bones

of our fathers

lie deep

in the mud

 

Beyond

any tender

or currency

known

 

The price

of our liberty

in grave markers

— shown

 

********

 

Montana

 

The heart

of America’s

Old Testament

 

Her vistas

eternal

ancient voices within

 

From Glacier to Miles City

from the Blackfeet

to the Bison

 

The song

of her grandeur

— predates legend and whim

 

********

 

Poetry …

 

Seeing everyday things

— in a once in a lifetime way

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2026)