Neither

happiness

nor misery

But the

kinship

they imbue

 

He who feels

the deepest

grief

Is to joy

most open

to

 

Life dissolves

without

context

No moment

stands

alone

 

For light

to shine

it needs the dark

Wherein

the truth

— is shown

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

 

Each day

its own treasure

Gifted

alone

Attached to

the moment

In liege

to the throne

 

Today

not tomorrow

Our key

to the gate

Unlocking

deliverance

Forever

— to wait

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 Montagues & Capulets

 

The trouble

with me

is you

 

The trouble

with you

is us

 

The trouble

with us

is them

 

The trouble

with them

—  is me

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

  

The Inkwell

 

Arrogant enough

to believe in his words

begging to be heard

 

Committed enough

to run from the crowd

 couplets crying loud

 

Living each phrase

in debt to each thought

the moment duly caught

 

His pen is refilled

the inkwell unmired  

— new verses to aspire

 

(The New Room: February, 2026)

 

  

Indentured

 

Beyond

the critics

Beyond

the pundits

Beyond

agenda

— beyond the hype

 

A poet

lives

Without

pretension

Indentured

to the truth

— and light

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

 

Cracks Of Wonder

 

Some situations

embraced by instinct

When reason is powerless

to explain

 

All words fall useless

in cracks of wonder

Where prescience waits

— our hearts to claim

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

 

Where Fortune Smiles

 

You get one chance

to make it right

to capture sound

and bottle sight

 

One chance alone

is all you’re willed

to box the moment

time distilled

 

You get one chance

to make your mark

to chase the demon

from the dark

 

One chance alone

if fortune smiles

to etch your name

— where memory files

 

(The New Room: February, 2026)

 

Kerouac Calls

 

Hitchhiking

my way

into

tomorrow

 

My thumb

in the present

My heart

— in the wind

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

 

I remember

mission children

before

the devils came

 

I remember

music and laughter

before

that night of flames

 

I remember

a priest who pleaded

before

they took his hair

 

I remember

a maiden girl

before

her screams despaired

 

I remember

a wind that blew

before

the Hades storm

 

And I remember

a moon that cried

before

 that blood-soaked morn

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

Still Foreign

 

No matter

how much love

is present

My feelings

truant reign

 

The ghost

inside me

will not leave

Inducing

love’s disdain

 

All joy

a vagrant

along the tracks

where distance

holds me sway

 

And love

still foreign

wherein I roam

and where

— I’m doomed to stay

 

(The New Room: February, 2026) 

 

 

 

Blowback

 

Judge

lest thee

be judged

 

Harm

lest thee

be harmed

 

Steal

lest thee

be robbed

 

Kill

lest thee

— be dead

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026) 

 

 

Somewhere In The Queue

 

We’re all going

to die

Only the order

— stays undetermined

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026) 

 

Above & Beyond

 

Fire cannot

burn

Nor water

drown

The truth

at its essence

Immortal

— resounds

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026) 

 

 

Owning The Moment

 

Pain on the front side

healing out back

Earning each scar

that my memory attacks

 

Writing uncensored

no words in arrears

Owning the moment

— unburdened by fear

 

(The New Room: February, 2026) 

Inherited

 severance

The saddest

probate

A wasteland

of love

A garden

of hate

 

A dark

segregation

Divorced

in our bane  

To separately

 covet

What little

— remains

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

 

I met her

on the boardwalk ramp

and said …

“You Have Nice Eyes”

 

The Gypsy Lady

fixed her gaze

my hand in hers

replied …

 

“White hates black

and black hates white

their fear right now

forbids

 

“Division preys

to rule the land

fate drifting

on the skids

 

“But just remember

this one thing

if we are

to survive

 

“Coffee colored kids

will reign

to save our souls

— demise”

 

(Haverford College: February, 2026)

The flip side

of dimension

the angle

of a curve

The silence of  

 a shouting mute

the last

unfeeling nerve

 

Description

serves in

lonely cells

its commutation stark

Where sentenced

and imprisoned grooms

forever

— wed the dark

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)

Adroitness

remits

what curiosity

requires

Professing

allegiance

through tundra

and fire

 

The rabbits

two exits

protecting

its lair

Ensuring

tomorrow

when trapped

— au contraire

 

(The New Room: February, 2026)

The image you left us

still burns in the sand

Through prairies and rivers

your spirit expands

 

With always a smile

what had to be done

You did with a flourish

a true Texas son

 

My hopes they rode with you

as you ventured North

All foes you enveloped

their fates in due course

 

And only one cowboy

was struck with your brand

but millions of dreamers

— still wait your command

 

(To Robert Duvall (Gus): February, 2026)