I lie down in the shadows

 where no one can reach me

My seventh and last

 place to hide

The sixth was a funeral,

 the fifth when in hospice

The fourth was each time

 that I lied

The third was a promise

 I made to a girl

That she took

 to her own grave

The second a promise

 I made to myself

From a vision

 my Grandmother gave

The first was the darkness

  where I exited that world

On a day that was

 cold and bright

Now the process is finished,

 as I hide for the last time

In the shadows

 —and safe from the light

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2010)

Never asking for permission,

  always being sure

His head was held firmly,

  his mind had stayed pure

Never seeking your acknowledgement

  or umbrella against the rain

His words exploded thunder

  —truth pouring down again

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)

A book with no cover,

  a man with no name

Vowels dormant and muted,

  as consonants reign

A plot with no purpose,

  an ending refrained

Its message in conflict

   —with footnotes of pain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

The dreams of a soldier…

   dead bodies impound

A warrior’s spirit

  his enemy found

The battle once over

   a new war to find

Though death be not imminent

   —all sleep to remind

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

The naked epiphany

  —visions only Queen

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

One foot in front of the other…

  that’s usually enough

One thought no longer indentured

  captive or rebuffed

One heart in search of love

  a new life to begin

One verse free and uncensored

   —your legacy to sing

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

A man must be measured

  to call himself such

Each storm must be weathered

  its helmsman so clutch

Fire must be extinguished

  for growth to begin

The seeds of new virtue

  —from the ashes of sin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

The eyes of a poet

The heart of a warrior

The soul of a prophet

 —but the words of a man

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

Those footsteps ahead

 are now footsteps behind

The past but a memory

 the future declines

My cadence is slowing

 my direction unclear

When frozen in place

 on the wind I can hear

Quiet footsteps ahead

 louder footsteps behind

Their sound fast approaching

 to reclaim and remind

The years stay unpromised

 except for the end

Each step left unwalked

 trailing closer—portends

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

I once tried crossing over

 a bridge that silence built

And for mile after mile

 the quiet maimed and killed

My speech was dumb and dormant

 as I bided all my time

In hope of passing through the cracks

   the exit doors unrhymed

My life dead on arrival

 till a voice inside decreed

To build a frame beneath that bridge

  —and set my meaning free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)