Wounded vanity

 mother of all tragedy

Slander and insults

the arrows dead aim

 

Pride bleeding carnage

no reason can bandage

The mirror once broken

—each crack filled with pain

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

A man clad in mystery

history would learn

 

The world in his debt

with fury to burn

 

Duty and honor

in marriage live on

 

With courage his mantra

—and battle his song

 

(Poem To End Chapter 20: February, 2023)

Not lying outright

is far from the truth

Hesitance vacuous

barren of fruit

 

What never gets said

deceitfulness hides

Stalking and preying

while buried inside

 

The pulpit a soapbox

 lectern a mask

Pontification

deceptions bombast

 

Wittingly fervent

the devil subverts

False implication

—the ultimate hurt

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

Trapped in politics

—victims we remain

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

The sins of the father

the sins of the son

Repentance left vacant

each sorrow rerun

An age of despondence

an age of denial

The past beyond hope

—the future beguiled 

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

You can’t infringe on greatness

it always needs its space

 

To stand apart and stand alone

an island in its place

 

You can’t lip sync a legend

the lyrics never come

 

Whose price is paid in distance laid

—all glory zero sum

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

The graves have been dug

all bugles away

Medals awarded

for valor displayed

 

The soldiers in transit

to homes once so dear

But where is the peace

—when gunfire you hear

 

(Opening Poem To My New Novel: ‘Approaching Storm’)

Its focus changes with the light

in angles newly formed

 

Exposing what your fear would hide

in images reborn

 

The camera always sees the truth

its lens encaptures time

 

Each moment frozen then set free

—in search of the sublime

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

The vagaries within

truth and falsity …

are greater than

 the differences between them

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)

Make friends of the deaf

they never hear thy questions

And marry the blind widow

to find thy way

 

Listen to the speechless

their message eternal

The prophets resounding

—thy destiny laid

 

(Dreamsleep: February, 2023)