Leavened unleavened
risen and stayed
Lost when recovered
joyful dismay
Intrinsic extrinsic
the whole without parts
Tomorrow this moment
stopping to start
Benign and bedeviled
revealed yet unseen
A valid deception
blessed but obscene
The past and the future
hello and goodbye
Affirming rejection
— all truth to belie
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
The raw material
of America
intrinsically damned
Its nature
and character
lost out of hand
Divisive
vindictive
self-interest gone wild
A narcissists
graveyard
— misused to beguile
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
Materializing
memory
photos on the wall
Immortalizing
tomorrow
vision to recall
Prescience
in the offing
feelings coming home
Sentience
remaking
— that forever known
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
Truth is an orphan
alone in the wind
License for others
who hide from within
Facing the storm
without fear or excuse
A guardian steps forward
— with hope to infuse
(To Charlie Kirk: September, 2025)
Treating
the symptoms
ignoring
the cause
The outcome
redundant
all change
stuck on pause
The people
the problem
the root
of the pain
No law
or restriction
can change
DNA
Our values
on fire
from those
who are lost
They hate
with an ignorance
perdition
defrosts
You can’t make
an omelet
with eggs
that won’t fry
And you can’t save
the farm
feral pigs
— in the sty
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
A river of
redemption
waiting beyond
These shallows
of torment
and rocks devil spawned
With rapids
approaching
white water ahead
Their nature
and prophecy
fueling the dread
As speed
is increasing
its roar on the rise
The falls
of the Jordan
— to live or to die
(Snake River ‘Lunch Counter:’ September, 2020)
Short
is most sweet
when the sugar
is pure
Its message
like honey
when added
to lure
The Mime
as your server
with candy
implied
Truth
in the tasting
its richness
— to hide
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
Wheelchairs
and walkers
in God’s
waiting room
Praying
abeyant
the end
coming soon
Front to
the back
they line
in the queue
Telling their
stories
from memory’s
askew
They wait
and they wonder
who’s next
to go
As all through
the lounge
great grandkids
in tow
New moments
like hen’s teeth
each minute
a year
As walkers
and wheelchairs
rust out
— in the tears
(Dunwoody Retirement Home: September, 2025)
Reimagine the future
honor the past
Live in the moment
first ever last
Change the perspective
fences destroyed
Polar invectives
cursed to employ
The baby and bathwater
image du jour
Becoming the instant
your lens is secured
Honor the future
reimagine the past
Live beyond either
— your essence recast
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
Nothing
more precious
than freedom
Nothing
sings louder
than praise
Nothing
more honored
than courage
Nothing
burns hotter
than rage
Nothing
escaping
the moment
Nothing
becomes
what it’s not
Nothing
can be
uncreated
Nothing
released
— till it’s caught
(Dreamsleep: September, 2025)
An Anthology Of Perception 