A mother

left crying

alone in her pew

 

Begging the Lord

for a miracle

new …

 

The only thing

he was good at

was being bad

 

Bus stations

train stations

corn maidens in drag

 

He came and he went

with the most

discordant rhyme

 

His sins

left uncounted

but marking the time

 

In Akron Ohio

his grifting

unwrapped

 

Those roads

in New Mexico

calling him back

 

The lights

and the sirens

again on their way

 

His thumb

in the wind

— Saint Jude in dismay

 

(The Breezeway: January, 2024)

In America

we don’t know how

to take out the trash

The mess piling up

around us

a national rash

Our country deeply

infested

with rats and ptomaine

And from Eden

to a landfill

— our legacy chained

 

 

(The New Room: January, 2024)

Marrying war

the true soldier is wed

Betrothal of blood

asleep in his bed

 

The men he would die for

as groomsmen rejoice

A vow ringed in glory

his weapon of choice

 

The years become marked

by each battle romanced

Anniversaries pledged

at the point of a lance

 

Divorce not an option

fidelity cries

His love bleeding freely

—with honor his bride

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

 

Are you able to afford

your fame

Gratuitous wanderings

chasing the flame

 

What you give up

for what you get back

In debt to the moment

past—future entrapped

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

Does writing what

you believe in

bring a change

of heart

Does seeing it

on paper

formalize

the art

Does setting it

to music

make the Angels

smile

Does faith and hope

written

cast doubt

— into exile

 

(The New Room: January, 2024)

Creating

nothing

it doesn’t

seek

to destroy

 

Apathetic

ill tempered

and by

seasons

— employed

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

Embrace your entitlement

to thrive

Hell freezing over

 the moment alive

 

Protect what’s inside

of your heart

Transcendence embodied

— Divine from the start

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

 

Idealism

versus

reality

 

In hope

that Quixote

prevails

 

Disappointed

again

reading the trends

Materiality

draining

the grail

 

Peer pressure

determines

what happens

 

Not some

high minded

value or tome

 

Greediness trumps

what our virtue

holds dear

 

Self interest

hitting

— closer to home

 

(Villanova University: January, 2024)

 

You can’t

embrace reality

forever

 

Its tenets

restrict

and constrain

 

By definition

it renames

 itself

 

Once spoken

to then be

disclaimed

 

What comes

upon you

the moment laced

 

Where vacuums

exit

in time and space

 

Regenerates

from life’s

cocoon

 

In endless

cycles

— moon to moon

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)

Without

your heart

open

emotion unspun

 

Without

the right feeling

the words

lie unsung

 

Without

the right words

the

verse to abate

 

The reader

in Limbo

awaiting

—his fate

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)