He had more past
than future
his rope was
getting thin
The choices made
the debts he paid
lost time
the biggest sin
His memory out
for barter
to change that
yet to come
For one last chance
to do the dance
whose music
—zero sum
(The New Room: May, 2023)
In search of my shadow
in the torrent of kings
I wade through the current
of all other things
Alone treading water
my essence bemired
This river a dungeon
of banished desire
I reach out to grab it
it motions away
To outline my image
while swirling at bay
And not till I’m sinking
does it buoy my form
To chase was my folly
—now rescued reborn
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
Too big to absorb
Montana at hand
Its distance won’t focus
Montana at hand
Two eyes not enough
Montana at hand
Forever illusive
—Montana at hand
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
What have we but life
both first and last
The rest an illusion
—of future’s past
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
If time is a prior assumption
—all else falls into line
(Villanova University: May, 2023)
Trapped in between the lyric
and music
Wandering in a rhythm
of lost expectation
Blaming each note still unplayed
and unwritten
The echoes distend
in a moment’s undoing
Hearing a chorus
when no choir is present
Voices imagined
to sing my sequester
Wandering aimless
through scores of abandon
Harmony denied me
—nightmarish and deafening
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
When given the moon
don’t ask for the stars
Light when reflected
—from Heaven afar
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
The birthmark of Satan
a spherical star
Old curse in the distance
new devils at war
His prophecy stolen
the markings of Cain
Madonna the virgin
rebirth unattained
Melody of darkness
blasphemies hymn
The garden left burning
original sin
Tomorrow in mourning
this moment on fire
The lamb off the altar
—redemption expired
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
Yesterday’s future
tomorrow today
subsuming transcendence
in all that we say
Perpetually present
the time to recall
all life in this moment
whose instant befalls
Begin a new ending
to whirl in the wind
the clock a reminder
its hour hand spins
Memory’s treasure
the fuel to inspire
each log a new effigy
—raised from the fire
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
Standing on the edge of forever
walking the tightest rope
Looking down into tomorrow’s abyss
devoid of any hope
The bottom rushing toward me
if one mistake is made
A footpath to a broken dream
too numb to be afraid
My past missteps surround me
daring me to jump
Reminding of what I can’t forget
this roiling morbid funk
But one last chance is taken
as I step outside myself
Shedding the fate of snake eyes past
—new cards the present dealt
(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)
An Anthology Of Perception 