You hear the words calling,

  but what if they stop

What if the voice changes

  to cold what was hot

And it’s not yours at all

  but a squatter that hides

D.N.A. of its own

  new agenda of lies

Those messages before,

  were they gifts or on loan

Is the feast yours to eat,

  will meat stay on the bone

Will the Muse be unfaithful,
is divorce in the wind

Leaving words then unnamed

  —orphaned silent within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

Not Before

Say what you will or wont

  but do as you pray

Bleed as you will in the night

  but carry the day

Take as your conscience directs

  but give all you can

Return when the fighting is done

   —but not before then

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

        A Final Amen

Through critical discussion

  he walked in the night

And passed all the doubters

  embracing their fright

After giving it once,

  he gave forever again

For that bigger than him

  —and that final amen

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

Never Act

Be what you are

  just don’t act like it

Be who you are

  —and never act at all

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

      The Answer

Did you die alive

  or did you live dead

The answer saying everything

  —meant to be said

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

       Faithful And Alone

Writing to no other standard

   but his own

He was forever faithful

  —and forever alone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

Is there a balance

Between poetry and prose

Anymore than a balance

between these and those

Is there a balance

Between poetry and prose

Or maybe a marriage

Where ‘heaven only knows’

If there’s a balance

Between poetry and prose

Are there rules to be broken

Where anything goes

Or is the real balance

Between poetry and prose

Truth sitting on top

  —their twin pillars below

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

The picture worth 1000 words

  is priced only one way

Its value screaming

  —until eyes close

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

In reference to nothing

Alone with itself

The truth burns in fury

Damnation to melt

Its legions are many

Believers so few

The stragglers all freezing

And lined in the queue

The mirror the liar

Death hiding within

The priest the deceiver

Who threatens with sin

But truth holds dominion

Setting fire to the throne

Rising above and beyond

What’s self-righteously known

It calls to you silent

As it calls to you loud

Do you hide in the shadows

Or answer back proud

That thing that you reference

From your prison within

Those things done in deference

Now caught in the wind

You lie as you bargain

You cheat and defame

One voice now your jailer

And calling your name

Your back to the altar

You hide in the pew

Before robbing the poor box

A new low for you

Your history tarnished

And legacy shot

Your name ill-begotten

From all you are not

But truth has no time stamp

No ticket to claim

One choice will release it

Life starting again

Your mortal days finite

You have to act fast

Will you ask for redemption

 —your soul to repast

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

If ignorance is truly bliss,

  and the Emperor has new clothes

Then who am I to judge at all

  —where peace and freedom go

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

In a virtual reality

 I found my father online

Though he died before the internet

 a man of his time

So how is this possible

 that an email appears?

From a website immortal

 in cyberspace near

I knew it was him

 with each line that I read

I knew it was him

 from what he left unsaid

In trying to print

 my screen crashed in error

“No document found,

   the message interred”

Was I just imagining

 or losing my mind?

His words never clearer

 for me to then find

I’ve thought of him often

 as I’ve struggled and fought

And carried inside me

 those lessons he taught

With every search engine

 I’ve looked and I’ve prayed

For just one more message

 —to rebalance my days

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2018)

Sages and broomsticks

  motherless pearls

Witches that threaten

  fatherless girls

Curse of the ages

  old grudges remain

A coven of stages

  to hide from the rain

The markings of Satan

  the touch of the Lord

A death plated sunset

  and winner forlorn

The trap now a quandary

  and you must break free

As with all soiled laundry

  to burn once deceived

The truth is not distant

  first word never feigned

The peace that you’re seeking

  inside you unclaimed

So let go of the dogma

  the medals will melt

New songs of arrival

  you’ll write most heartfelt

But the moment is now

  and the moment is clear

Once the moment is christened

  new joy spins from fear

To those who still threaten

  with eternity damned…

Say:

        “Away with your blasphemy,

          stop where you stand

        These wings have reopened

          my eyes looking in

        New life has been gifted

          —I’m blessed to begin”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

The choice was like water

  the choosing like stone

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

Magic reappeared

  as truth became known

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

Age redeemed ageless

  all years now reclaimed

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

The wind changed its course

  the storm to rename

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

The entrance transformed

  map burning unread  

Dying in the moment

  reborn to eternity

Salvation points inward

  —new pathway ahead

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)