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)
New Paradigms
Approaching
the limits
of human
performance
The body
conscripted
with flesh
as the martyr
New ‘paradigms’
looming
bionics
invade
The mind
a dark trainer
whose death sentence
— willed
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Illumination
All living
things
gravitate
toward light
Where painters
and poets
bask
in delight
Illumined
in freedom
the darkness
confined
To others
not searching
by shadows
— defined
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Until Trapped
In spaces confined
people begin to withdraw
deeply
inside themselves
In elevators
and crowded halls
their psyche constricts
their image quelled
As victims of space
their mood takes on
the confines of
their station
Where smaller and smaller
they become
trapped
— in isolation
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Feelings Beckon
I lost
my mind
and found
my heart
Perception
orphaned
the music
starts
All thoughts
abandoned
conceptual
ire
As feelings
beckon
with joy
— on fire
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Trapped In Wonder
More a
question
than it is
an answer
Life
when uncertain
its magic
— flowers
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Light To Dark
Virtues
become crimes
— by exaggeration
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Crossing Over
“What in truth
great terror be death
one last step
awaiting unblessed
Forever as silence
behests
crossing over
— eternity rests”
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Stigmata
Moral wounds
may be hidden
— but they never close
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Deep Within
Always charging
never quelled
Deep within
— the heart foretells
(The New Room: February, 2026)
The ‘Player’
To get her
to at least
give him her number
he told her …
“You Have Dakota Fannings Eyes”
Finally
she said back
what surprised
him to hear …
‘You’re the kind of man I’ve Always Despised’
Her number
unwritten
and intent
more than clear
‘Again He Beseeched And Contrived’
And never
redundant
she looked
at him plain
‘With The Fury Of Hate In Her Eyes’
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Against The Wind
What looked like a win
was a major league loss
I tried to escape
but delusion the cost
Rebelling against them
I thought I was free
But using old tactics
their hold still on me
From first day to last
in darkness and light
Their voices unsilenced
their grip ever tight
Despite my best efforts
heredity sways
Our schism a fantasy
— that hovers and preys
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
I pass through
each website
belonging to none
The bards
of the first
to the next unbecome
Opinions
are chanted
as ego’s cavort
The green-eyed
monster
— where prescience holds court
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
“Cloud Of Possibilities”
The Linear
argument
false
on discovery
Truth
a straight line
only fantasy
mimed
Prescience
a feeling
devoid
of dimension
Enlightenment
burns
where the ashes
— are mined
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
A Valentine Wish
At home in your heart
— alone never more
(Poems Of Love: February, 2026)
Time’s Reverie
When you see it
but can’t write it
your prison remains
When you like it
but don’t love it
you die in refrain
What the minute
holds captive
the moment sets free
What your spirit
embodies
— in time’s reverie
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
The Exclusion Is Mutual
Opposites attract
in all but politics
Each viewpoint divergent
— and stance zero sum
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
Fallujah
Beyond the wire
the great ones fall
Beyond the wire
— lay heroes all
(Freedom At War: April, 2004)
As people
buy willingly
into
new ‘comforts’
The few
and empowered
will dish out
the crumbs
A new wizard
lies hidden
his curtain
a hard drive
Entrapped
in their keyboards
young minds
unbecome
The facts
merely factoids
of digital
suasion
In fated
consensus
their Google search
lies
While deep in
their consciousness
a legacy’s
waiting
A meltdown
away
when the internet
— dies
(Villanova Student Chat: February, 2026)
More honor
in shame
than ever
false glory
The larceny
of time
cleft moments
abscond
Passion
untitled
prescience
but memory
Pandering
fantasies
prevaricate
long
Lost verses
of blood
all pain
in their letting
Remembrance
a shadow
of days
underserved
Redemption
a silence
that screams
in our absence
Placating
our fear
when the Sirens
— are heard
(The New Room: February, 2026)
Caprice
The right moment
at the wrong time
The right rhythm
with the wrong rhyme
The verse oft hidden
between the lines
The Muse abeyant
— till prescience shines
(The New Room: January, 2026)
In Plain Sight
You can hide
in the open
when you’re
somebody else
No need for
a mask
with your image
indwelt
You can hide
in the open
when nobody
stares
An orphan
in training
whose devils
— may care
(The New Room: January, 2026)
Alone
I hope that
you die
before
the new morn
The night holding
captive
your future
forlorn
I hope that
you choke
on the words
you profane
A prisoner
convicted
alone
— in your pain
(The New Room: January, 2026)
Darkness Calls
Temptation rears
its ugly head
Deception hides
beneath our beds
The Angels
of our nature shunned
As darkness calls
— perdition comes
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
Those Few
Everyone
is born unique
But many die
as clones
Lost of promise
Grace endowed
With joy bereft
a drone
Everyone
His image shared
Till falling
from the Light
Beatific
Vision lost
Alone
— to face the night
(The First Book Of Prayers: February, 2026)
From The Maelstrom
We are
separate
We are
distant
We are
many
— we are one
From the
cities
From the
country
From the
maelstrom
— we become
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
So Close And Yet …
Feasting on the
lettered law
Abandoning
its spirit
Crippled by
the sanctioned rules
Afar
— when we’re so near it
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
In The Offing
Poetry
is the weight training
of writers
Building new couplets
each musing
reweighted
Lactic
endowment
new pain in old phrasings
Success
in the offing
— as writing expands
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
We dare not talk
of love
Time has robbed us
of its spark
Ever since when
to forever and then
We live in its shadow
— holding hands in the dark
(Poems Of Love: February, 2026)
Infidels Mourn
Fools gamble
cowards ramble
but wise men ponder
Alone in a crowd
silent out loud
a sage to wander
Through pathways of old
with proverbs untold
he seeks transcendence
As time is reborn
and infidels mourn
— his soul’s quintessence
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
Never And Always
A man’s ambition
should never
exceed his worth
A man’s ego
should never
invade his soul
A man’s fury
should never
exceed his cause
A man’s reasons
should always
— defy excuse
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
This Present
Have you ever been
to yesterday
in search of tomorrow
False notions
that frame our thoughts
with despair
The past a deception
in search of
new victims
The future a myth
in this present
— we share
(Dreamsleep: February, 2026)
An Anthology Of Perception 