Borrow from the least,

 but steal from the best

The larceny of endowment

 —your legacy’s quest

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Will eternity have

  a yin and a yang

Will the forces that govern

  applaud and harangue

Will the blessings have value

  if damnation moves on

Will it all even matter

  —once tomorrow is gone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

Twas once a time you owned my heart,

  then Laura stole it back

Through all those years our hearts on fire,

  she waited and she sat

She hoped one day our lives would part,

  to never meet, as then…

Her voice so soft had cried at night,

  “I want you back again”

“You need to promise me this time,

  you’ll never leave me cold

“And even if you dally forth,

  your Muse I will behold

“To heal you of this tragic drought,

  you brought upon yourself

“And give you back the future-past

    —whose presence now unfelt”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)   

Your love to bathe

 in words rephrased

With hearts not young

 —or old

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

As of late,

 I have developed a new best friend

It’s my younger self coming

 to visit my end

I look in his face,

 and I see a new truth

I look in his face,

 and I see more than youth

Now more like my father,

 I more like his son

The beginning he carries,

 from whose ending I run

He tells me he’s followed,

 but I never looked back

Always looking beyond,

 what my fear could attack

He approaches me close,

 but we’re never to touch

The distance between us,

 life’s meaning as such

For most of my days

 I planned dying alone

But now in his presence,

 every memory reshown

He points to my heart,

 as his eyes fly within

His vision, my vision

 —eternity’s twin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Am I so entitled,

 is it there in my name

Is the water redemptive,

 my salvation proclaimed

Does the Rock Of All Ages

 line my river with stone

Are the words mine by birthright,

 not borrowed or loaned

Is all time but a servant,

 flowing inward to send

A beginning eternal,

 whilst slaying the end

Is my legacy written

 in the current redeemed

As the present rechristens

 —my baptismal name freed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

If there’s anything more dangerous

 than a terrorist

  —it’s a corrupt politician

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Does the chemist succeed

  without blowing things up

Were you ever in need

  from a bout of bad luck

Does the tree need to shake

  for the apples to fall

Does your heart need to break

  —for new love to then call

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

Do you change the meaning

  in favor of form

Do you add a new comma

  because it’s the norm

Do you shorten the sentence

  because it’s advised

Do you scour the pages

  re-dotting your I’s

Do you read and reread

  again to address

What sure of at first

  and now want to correct

A wise man once said

  and it’s truer today

“The First Cut Is The Deepest”

   —leave your words as they lay

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

Night erupts…

The maddening glow

Of a closing minute

Of a final hour

Shines pale

Against the frozen concrete

As the drumbeat starts

And the chanting starts

My last broken link

Forever lost

Forever lost

Salvation,

The calling card

Of a new

Abyss

My breath turning

Inward

Where the heat rises

And the voices expand

With the choking of Angels

And the plucking of wings

New grace into the fire

The blessing of those

Becoming

A curse to his rage

The fire of isolation

Burning sweet

Into my memory

Murderous thoughts

Killing innocent feelings

All orphaned intent

Lost in dark wandering

Time no longer master

Unto itself

  —as night erupts

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)