If the world would only stop on cue
all promises made would return anew
The seasons would rearrange their order
and lines we’ve drawn—no longer borders
If the world would only dance on cue
and kick up its heels for me and you
Then what a show we all could make
to merengue together—with love our fate
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Knowing
not repeating
The weakness
of all refrain
A first cut
true and deepest
Once healed
—its scar remains
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
I never wanted to be famous,
I only wanted to be great
I never promised you an answer
even now as questions inflate
I traveled each and every highway
as time kept changing once again
I never told you it was magic
—just a wish blowing in the wind
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Raw and uncut, the Poet
sharpened his edge
His entry point targeted
fury bright red
The first cut the deepest
and clean to the bone
A wound bleeding freely
—all sutures unknown
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Poetry or Prose
its hand reaches outward
A fist or a backslap
—composure or blood
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Start looking outside your frame of reference
for that which stands you alone
Stop longing for praise or high endorsement
things only borrowed or loaned
Start feeling those words you preach unto others
no longer idling yourself away
Stop blaming the time and the message it brings
—for those excuses that keep you ‘at bay’
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
It isn’t…
until it is
It wasn’t…
until it was
It shouldn’t be…
until it should
It won’t be…
—until it will
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Reading for inspiration
and not for fact
The words paint a picture
in my mind
Like dominoes falling
one by one
They rise from the page
to remind
My fingers enliven
and start to draw
A vivid story
new image sublime
All colors reborn,
as each word is set free
The ink now transformed
—and divine
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
Day surrounds your memory,
as evening frames your smile
But what I most remember
—is morning in your eyes
(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
My days and nights
death in between
trouble in front—behind
The devil hijacking my
fondest dream
trouble in front—behind
She said she loved me
then said it twice
trouble in front—behind
The day I got fired
she turned to ice
trouble in front—behind
I pass out stoned
and wake up hard
trouble in front—behind
With time my warden
and sentence scarred
trouble in front—behind
My children’s names
now others call
trouble in front—behind
The doctor warns…
“Not one more fall”
trouble in front—behind
Excuses inked
across my chest
trouble in front—behind
The good got better
but the worst got best
trouble in front—behind
My eyes stay swollen
my mojo light
trouble in front—behind
The river rolling
the falls in sight
trouble in front—behind
(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2018)
