No matter who you vote for

the government gets in

Left or right, day brings night

with colors gray and thin

 

The better parts of nature

get worse as time goes on

Bilateral infection

whose cure is woebegone

 

As hubcaps change in order

the wheels forever spin

Tomato or tomatto

that same old song to sing

 

A baby leaves its mother

new brick to build the wall

Ramparts trapping all inside

—beyond which prescience calls

 

(The New Room: May, 2023)

 

Once committed to memory

the ownership sublime

Entitlement within your thoughts

caught in every line

 

Deep within your consciousness

intuition’s deed holds fast

Spelling out your right to own

—the only thing that lasts

 

(The New Room: May, 2023)

Often,

 one who can

… wont

More often,

one who can’t

… will

 

Reluctance

by the

one

Arrogance

by the

other

 

—and the world to suffer their consequence

 

(The New Room: May, 2023)

 

Do you remember falling in love

the very time and place

Did you surrender within its bliss

showering in its grace

 

Do you remember the harps that played

angels in the choir

Your last breath taken, heart pounding free

—cupid of desire

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Memories

of the future

Stolen

from the past

Caught within

tomorrow’s web

All of time

recast

 

Moment

after moment

Living

on the run

Embracing all

that’s come to be

And all

—that’s yet to come

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Art bridges the distance  

between forever

 and today

 

Crossing o’er the cosmos

of eternity

—relayed  

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Bigger than every stage

she commanded

Greater than the sum

of her parts

Braver than the men

who adored her

Sharper than the image

—that endures

 

(Tribute To Hepburn-Bryn Mawr College: May, 2023)

The other side

of knowing

A padlocked world

of dreams

Whose key is tattooed

on my hope

Till opened

unredeemed

 

A treasure chest

of wisdom

Whose prescience

zero sum

Instinct crowned

in jewels of fire

Burning

—to become

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

Makeup never hides the truth

the camera sees it all

Sharply focused through the pain

each mask a futile pall

 

As clowns embrace the actor’s fears

in painted frozen smiles

The farce goes on in word and song

—a masquerades denial

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)

 

She was often better

but never good

Her virtue tainted

misunderstood

 

Her nights a mystery

each day in shame

The rumors spreading

each one to blame

 

The men who knew her

that man who left

Impassioned bookends

of time bereft

 

She was often better

 yet often worse

Each day repeating

—tomorrow’s curse

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2023)