Skipping Stones Of Fire

Going from one kind

of hell to another

The women would change

— but his torment remained

 

**

 

Fidelity’s Orphan

 

The lies are easy

but truth gives me trouble

Veracity’s mistress

lingers unwed

 

Deceit an enchantress

that woos in our folly

Fidelity’s orphan

— unnamed and ill bred

 

**

 

Bridges

 

Wit

is the difference

between a quote

— and a quip

 

**

 

Robin’s Hood

 

To live

outside the law

if righteousness

decrees

To stand alone

against the throne

fugitive

— and free

 

**

 

Misdirection

 

You can’t change what is

with what isn’t

You can’t say goodbye

with hello

You can’t fix what’s wrong

with ill mention

You can’t touch the sky

— from below

 

**

 

Lessons Belie

 

You can never teach

the heart of a poem

only its form or structure

at best

 

What’s beating inside

every lesson belies

and no box or its wrapper

— will ever attest

 

**

 

Ancient Jaws

 

Hiding

below the surface

Water

muddy and stark

A snapping

turtle waits in silence

Lurking

— in the dark

 

**

 

 

One Eye Left Open

 

All change is internal

the outside world staid

 

Heaven’s dead reckon

is trapped in the senses

 

Caught in a mirror

of transient reflection

 

One eye left open

— the other relayed

 

**

 

Between The Notes

 

Idleness

hides the most

attractive

industry

 

Often

the most valued

part of

the day

 

Lost

in the magic

of chance

undetermined

 

Rich

not in money

but in wonder

— assayed

 

**

 

Safe Harbors

 

Encircled by memory

old feelings surround

Confronted by turmoil

they seek common ground

 

Each musing familiar

old thoughts from the fray

Marching together

— to carry the day

 

**

 

Never Stop Believing

 

Never say no

till you’re

too busy

to say yes

 

Never stop writing

till the

words

have regressed

 

Never stop asking

till the

last question’s

gone

 

Never stop believing

till

right

— becomes wrong

 

**