Their footsteps returned

as a shroud fell around me

Hiding me from the heels

of their jackened boots

Direction was lost

escape but a memory

Shouting their curses

re-echoing the past

 

(Shadows Of Anne Frank: November, 2023)

The gray areas of conscience

those depths of confusion

That’s where we find ourselves

—that’s where we thrive

 

(Dreamsleep: November, 2023)

Reality’s made

of what

it is

Not what

it might

have been

 

The apple

landing

on my head

Bespeaks

of now

not then

 

All abstract

nature

Plato drawn

To live

behind

the mask

 

What’s real

in substance

real in form

No future

and

—no past

 

(Strafford Pennsylvania: November, 2023)

 

 

 

Dancing through

the mine field

deftness parlayed

Destruction incumbent

the future

in play

Each step risks a lifetime

if right

turns to wrong

Tomorrow uncertain

when short

—calls for long

 

(Dreamsleep: November, 2023)

 

Armed with the same knowledge

we’re still not conjoined

Intention the difference

no flip of the coin

 

Our substance a mirror

but essences framed

by choices defining

—the praise or the blame

 

(The New Room: November, 2023)

My heart and mind have thought and felt together

with soul and spirit intertwined as one

And shaken from this sleep of dying embers

the words regifted wrapped in morning sun

 

Days both long and short have etched their meaning

onto the pages time does not subscribe

Each rise and fall the tide of love remaining

as seasons change—when fire and ice collide

 

(Dreamsleep: November, 2023)

 

How much profit

have you made

on your greed

 

The bursar

of hell

wants to know

 

How has your

 avarice

lived unrestrained

 

A glutton

those starving

in tow

 

How many times

have you dealt

from the bottom

 

Betting

the players

were blind

 

Sleeving that ace

that sends

you to hell

 

In debt

to the devil

—consigned

 

(Villanova University: November, 2023)

Sodom and Gomorrah

their tale retold

Ignoring scripture

the world grown cold

Semitic factions

that seek and kill

Their hate on fire

their rage instills

 

Sodom and Gomorrah

two faiths subscribe

The Quran and Bible

their fate describes

Brother kills brother

the hour late

“Vengeance Is Mine”

—damnations fate

 

(The New Room: November, 2023)

 

Pulling the curtains

down on today

Shutting the windows

doors locked from the street

Putting the cat out

trouble abeyant

My house becomes quiet

—the past is asleep

 

(Dreamsleep: Ocotber, 2023)

The freedom to gather

the freedom to wander

—the freedom to disobey

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)