Are you the hero

  in your recurring dream

Or the victim

  of a life undone

Are you the ambassador

  for all you esteem

Or a fugitive

  —a soul on the run

Are you a real friend

  beyond trial and strife

Whose allegiance

  now stalwart defends

Are you the true master

  of all your desires

Or the ghost

  —of what sleep can’t befriend

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Folding in to convention,

Sealed in creases of acceptance,

Maligned and misled

By the false promises

Of a stolen heart,

We chase the white whale

Of validation

Into waters of denial…

  ‘Fury—the rallying cry

   of our vengeful spirit

   Hate—the jilted lover

   of our fated selves’

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)  

Too close to the flame…

   too far from the light

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

The power of the written word…

  the spoken word supreme

Ink to recommission,

  what only breath can glean

Soldiers line up back to back,

  letters ranked and filed

The command to march just given once

   —its war chant loud and wild

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Writing for tomorrow,

  today is enhanced

Writing for tomorrow,

  my mind and heart dance

Writing for tomorrow,

  my place is affirmed

Writing for tomorrow,

  my name is confirmed

Writing for tomorrow,

  the future reeled in

Writing for tomorrow,

  new moments begin

Writing for tomorrow,

  old crucibles filled

Writing for tomorrow

  —the present instilled

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Making love to the words,

  our tryst lasted till dawn

The sun now a blanket,

  covered verses to warm

Making love to the words,

  all new phrases to sleep

Resting fertile and silent

  —until daylight retreats

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

The mother lode of nighttime verse,

   arriving late

    —by Satan cursed

The dreamer wakes, all sleep forgoes,

   old words unbirthed

    —in shadows grow

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)  

 Are you judging from halls

  academic

Or from places where words

  cannot hide

Are your hours immersed in

  false reference

Or in a visceral pursuit

  that defies

All bias and excuse

  living tethered

In an ivy walled mansion

  enthroned

While beauty and truth

  run together

Through open fields

   —that no pundit has grown

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)  

From whom was your legacy born,

  and where does your destiny lie

A voice calling out from the storm

   —a place where the words never die

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Living an eternity

  with each given day

The calendar a slave

  to the present foray

This moment at hand

  the only time you’re ordained

Exploding at once

  —over and over again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)