A seminary of devotion
ordains me with Grace
Spiritually enlightened
my soul is embraced
Its gift so much greater
than thoughts would belie
Cloistered within me
— anointed on high
(The First Book Of Prayers: March, 2026)
The Relighting
For you
to be right
must I always
be wrong
Can’t our thoughts
live together
like the words
of a song
That plays and
surrounds us
without judgment
or blame
Relighting
the cosmos
with harmony’s
— flame
(Villanova University: March, 2026)
Saturday Threesome
Forever To Hide
You’ll never escape
a bad memory
when it’s buried deep inside
It’s hard to run away
from the ‘stalker’
in dark moments that reside
Within to keep you captive
your soul
indentured and restrained
Forever to hide
from what lives to prey
— on what you cannot change
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Though Tattered And Torn
Many salute
before the flag
some will turn their backs
Many will bleed
to keep it flying
some let it go slack
Many fight …
Old Glory tattered
some avoid the fray
Many will die
within its folds
some — their hearts betray
(Martha Browns Woods: March, 2026)
A Darkened Sprit
With Satan’s
vow
He damned
his soul
Denying
God
His fate
ran cold
Blessings
offered
Turned
away
A darkened
spirit
His will
— conveyed
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Sound Bites 3-27-2026
Soul’s Imperil
Embrace the lost
creative gift
Keep it closest
to your heart
Ignore it
at your soul’s imperil
Whose ire tears
— your world apart
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Mistral Wind
First
Last
And Always
— say something
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Symbiosis
Without real freedom
true privacy dies
The right to our secrets
— in liberty lies
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Echoes Surround
You’ve been leaving
since before you arrived
The seeds of denial
you planted inside
To run in the wasteland
where echoes surround
An orphan retreating
— despoiled and bound
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Without The Dark
No saint
without a past
No sinner
without a future
No faith
without a doubt
No light
— without the dark
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
A Verbal Palette
A Poem is but a picture
— painted with words
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Leading Us Onward
Beautiful
chaos
A wonderous
chime
That rings
beyond order
And seeks
to defy
Leading
us onward
Calling
our name
Beyond
what’s endemic
Resplendence
— ordained
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Looking Deeper
Did you ever love
what’s in the box
But hate
the way it’s wrapped
The politics
of modern life
Repels
— what it attracts
(Dreamsleep: March, 2027)
Ere Despondence
A garden gate unlocked but rusted shut
evokes what memory plays on stringless lyres
Between the furrowed hedgerows standing witness
there lives a fated wish of heart’s desire
Alone unvisited throughout the seasons
to weather scorching sun — inclement rain
The loneliness of what once was grows ere despondence
waiting on an unkept promise made in vain
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Blues Poems 26 & 27
Blues Poem #26
Everybody wants
to go to heaven
But nobody
wants to die
Everybody wants
the mojo queen
Who rides in
on the moonlight tide
Everybody wants
to go to heaven
But nobody
wants to die
Ain’t a woman been made
who won’t steal your soul
and keep you
— half alive
(Tribute To Albert King)
Blues Poem #27
An aging
harp player
trying to bend
the next reed
New breath
in the shadows
where servitude
bleeds
His hands
old and wrinkled
each note
a new plea
And out
of the darkness
his riff
— sets you free
(Tribute To Sonny Terry: March, 2026)
The Whippoorwill Calls
Your mind
won’t understand it
but your feelings will
In touch
with the magic
— forever instilled
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Demons Lie Waiting
Falling back
into
the abyss
of myself
The depths
stay unmeasured
a bottomless
hell
Light
into darkness
sun
into rain
Spiritual
guidance
a dying
refrain
An echoing
canyon
where fate
goes to die
As demons
lie waiting
and destiny
— cries
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Waiting For You To Write The Music
And he wished
just once too often …
always failing
in refrain
That the times
would now absolve him
for a past
he hid in shame
And he wished
one final pleading …
an attempt
to bend the reed
To a future
unforgiving
where his hopes and dreams
— still bleed
(Sausalito: June, 1984)
???
WHY
Three letters
commanding attention
Three letters
the bone of contention
One syllable
bigger than Everest
One syllable
birthing our interest
Questioning forward
questioning back
Answering tightly
answering slack
Words that fall silent
words that delight
Trapdoor to darkness
— gateway to light
WHY
(The New Room: March, 2026)
An Anthology Of Perception 