The bars of the jail

those electronics we serve

our cellphones and laptops

new wardens in stir

 Ipods and Ipads

to Tweet and I.M.

the virtual distance

created within

24/7

we Text back and forth

when Email’s too slow

 a much faster course

But nature is watching

and planning a storm

the power grid wanton

with darkness for sure

And who is to blame

as we cry and we scream

our minds have been sentenced

we no longer dream

The reckoning promised

has come home at last

and this time not virtual

—our prison recast

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)

High minded but low brow,

and living the contradiction

of a greater truth

I’m caught between transcendence

and pontification

my pockets ladened

with a traitor’s silver

—in search of gold

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)

When writing the words,

are they thought or then felt

Which to come first,

cards different once dealt

But sometimes together,

as in straights or a flush

They win back the reader

—with more than potluck

(Rosemont College: December, 2021)

Though happy when wealthy

I’m happy when poor

my happiness fluid

and flows from the core

The riches inside me

their bounty implied

with love as the constant

rejection denied

All queens in their castles

each king on his throne

their gentry in waiting

court jesters bemoan

True joy in the notion

not fashioned by whim

That our souls were imbued

—and sainted within

(The First Book Of Prayers: December, 2021)

Poets believe

they were born out of time,

each era too early, too late,

out of rhyme

Creations main doctrine

for those so inclined

connects what’s unspoken

—to a far greater mind

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)

I walked the same path I had always walked,

but the flowers and the bushes were changed

The birds had stopped singing, the woods became dark,

and my memory a tiger untamed

I came to that spot where tomorrow began,

but the gates to its entry were closed

The path veering inward where remembrance escaped

—to wander both free and alone

(St. David’s Pennsylvania: December, 2021)

The artist may tarnish,

but his art remains clean

His intention stays ageless,

his wishes pristine

Though rust covers over

what’s harder to see

The base is still there

—and the spirit still free

(Dreamsleep: December, 2021)

We turn a deaf ear

as they live with the pain

of those who we cancel

with biting disdain

Unable to rise

above selfish intent

with opioid bias

our progeny bent

Pontification

colors the flow

young ears once thought distant

to reap what we sow

The world as we leave it

our tracks in the sand

forever to haunt us

—as children disband

(Radnor Pennsylvania: December, 2021)

The Agent Intellect…

God speaking loud

Aquinas his servant,

empirically proud

Action is needed,

the soul lies in wait

The body left wanting

—new pearls for the gate

(Villanova University: December, 2021)

I rest in the memory

of things that I’ve loved

where time is not finite

 below or above

These pockets of joy

hold the key to my fate

as the dreams of my father

in slumber gestate

To live past tomorrow

diving deep in the past

with time still a virgin

the moment to last

And rise resurrected

each day with the sun

knowing fortune awaits me

—when sleep again comes

(Rosemont Pennsylvania: December, 2021)