It’s never about

—what it’s really about

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

Etta was predicting

Stormy Weather

As Ray freed his

Seven Spanish Angels

Roy asked are you still

Running Scared

But Ella was smiling and

Watching Over Me

Peggy gave me that look asking

Is That All There Is

But Kris stepped in to

Help Me Make It Through The Night

Willy reminding us all

How Time Slips Away

As Hank made his entrance

That Lonesome Whistle Blowing

Bobby was still bleeding from

Mack The Knife

As Frank flew in on

A Summer Wind

Aretha was breaking

That Chain Of Fools

While BB cried out 

The Thrill Is Gone

Smoky was drowning in

The Tears Of A Clown

And Sam kept promising

A Change Is Gonna Come

As the Fat Man looked down

from Blueberry Hill

Elvis chased the

Hound Dog out the back door

But Brenda had our

Emotions running high

When Satchmo assured us  

—It’s A Wonderful World

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

The lies are uncountable

with only one truth

tomorrow and yesterday

masks to confuse

 

Behind bars of enchantment

our fantasy hides

programming our psyches

rewriting each lie

 

To hide from the moment

its present refused

whose message eternal

intention abused

 

The mirror a prison

all windows set free

eternally instant

—when choosing to be

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

Writing …

first last

 and always  

—its own reward

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

The square root

of -1

whose forest drops

a tree

 

Where hearing

goes holistic

no longer

by degree

 

What’s proven

first imagined

 true power

of the mind

 

Conceptual

enlightenment

 images

—divine

 

(Villanova University: August, 2023)

God save the king

but not the queen

Her neck awaits

the guillotine

Someone to blame

each sacrifice

The son he wanted

whose birth on ice

 

The throne half-vacant

one seat to fill

The royal maidens

appear at will

Which one will prosper

how many fall

Into the moat

—of fate’s recall

 

(The New Room: October, 2023)

Do you write to a standard

that isn’t your own

Do you pledge your allegiance

to a dilettante throne

 

Do you shut out your Muse

when her words pierce the skin

Do you think before feeling

looking out never in

 

Is your nighttime belabored

with dreams from the past

Is the daylight a hunter

 your guilt running fast

 

Is the one choice that’s left you

the one you can’t make

Is the courage required

—your one failing grace

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

Hope may wane

and wishes fade

but art forever keeps

Dawn till dusk

till dawn again

incessance buried deep

Sculptors sculpt

and painters paint

as writers seize the day

Creation’s bridge

 its toll insures

—tomorrow’s yesterday

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)

Everything

points to something

the many to the one

 

Everyone

liege to someone

with fealty’s bow restrung

 

Everywhere

started somewhere

whose map undrawn curates

 

Every song

birthed in silence

—where voices incubate

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)

Stealing fire from the gods

Prometheus would yearn

And pass it off to humankind

whose banishment interred

 

Their feet into the glowing coals

but faith out from the dark

Enlightenment a powder keg

—uncareful wishing sparks

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)