In the middle of the stream

 there rests an island

Where hopes and wishes dock

 just out of reach

At the end of every dream

 my souls asylum

Each memory harbored safe

 —along its beach

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

Hunting the distant banks

Of one lost remembrance

A reckoning came upon me 

Excuses left askance

My tracks grew large

As midnight’s table turned

The prey had changed to predator

Of a memory left unlearned

        The dark repeating whispers

          my soul afraid to tell

        Until its breath upon my back

         —last step my fear to quell

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

Walking around a

Mythical town

That doesn’t exist

Looking for what

I would never find

I trod those same streets

That I had been down

In my dreams before

The sky barren

Except for the sound

Of the exodus

Of wings

Hovering over people

All moving away

The backs of their heads

The only thing visible

As they marched off

Into the dark

With faces and eyes

Mortgaged…

    To pay for all the things

        that they would never do

    In debt to one last promise

        they will never keep

    The terms of their indecision

        written in the blood of repetition

     The movement of the hawk

         —another’s wind to blow

  (Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Just before dawn…

  the answers came

And dressed in drag,

  they spoke my name

They claimed their place

  though none was offered

They stole a space,

  their masks on backwards

Just before dawn…

  the answers came

Stalking my query

  with falsehoods named

But in my wake,

  their lies would drown

The truth unanswered

   —new questions found

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

The distance between what you feel

 and what you write…

   —your measure as a Poet

The difference between what you think

 and how you act…

   —your measure as a Man

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

My pact with God transcends your fear

 and all professed religion

The faith I have, the joy I feel

 not subject to your laws

My relationship is one on one

 whose heart is freely given

To live inside his bounteous light

  —resplendent and in awe

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

      From ‘The Book Of Prayers’

The pathway to happiness is laughter

 —the gateway to laughter is children

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)

To meet death head on,

You need but a song

  —to carry you on your way

The words needn’t matter

If the melody flatters

  —to be hummed by the people who stay

To meet death head on,

You need only one song

  —that your children may sing out of tune

Because the years they go fast,

Only memories last

  —as May gives up her flowers to June

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

There once was a time when women could cook,

  and men knew how to dance

Education was by the book,

  no fuzzy math or creative finance

Parents visited their own parent’s homes,

  as the grandchildren came along

And life was so much better then

  new words to every song

There once was a time when women could cook,

  and men knew how to dance

Hearts were pure as dogs roamed free,

  neighbors talked across the fence

Everyone shared those values true

  family mattering most of all

Because in the end, a community of friends

  —let you rise and then stand tall

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 Thank you for the poetry Lord,

  thank you for the verse

Thank you for the words that play

   and on my fields converse

Thank you for the feelings

  letting others join in song

But thank you most for reaching down

  —and guiding me along

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

     From ‘The Book Of Prayers’