Till life retires me I won’t retire

all cries to uncles stalled

And won’t slow down or buy the farm

till Abraham has called

 

My will as though a five-year-olds

wild and dancing free

Those trees of life I’ve yet to climb

still calling out to me

 

The view much clearer though ladder worn

from high atop myself

With passions free and burning hot

each thought more deeply felt

 

Somewhere a bugle waits for me

an Angel standing by

To blow my name when time abates

—upon whose wings I’ll fly

 

(Beaupre: June, 2022)

 

The Ocean has no conscience,

no judgment, joy, or hate

 

She dances with you to her beat

in stirring waves of fate

 

With reverence you may enter

all blessings on the day

 

But just one slip and she reminds

what ancient mariners say…

 

“Red sky at morning, sailors warning

red sky at night, sailors delight”

 

Her message best taken when early to bed

life in the balance, her power to dread

 

(Rosemont Pennsylvania: June, 2022)

You’ll never be sure

until you might die

Power imploding

—rebirthed in goodbye

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

Released from

the inferno

Tongue of Satan

to betray

Saving words

from his fury

Muting the serpent

—today

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

Left or right

the noise drones on

 

Distractions prized,

the message gone

 

What’s right is right

unless it’s left

 

The truth beguiled

—our soul’s bereft

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2022)

 

A giant of a man

to whom history bows

As schoolboy’s sing

his legend proud

 

Our rivers symbols

where freedom flows

Through nighttime crossings

in driving snow

 

That freezing winter

at Valley Forge

The enemy slept

our hope restored

 

Embracing conflict

in search of peace

As patriots bled

our bonds released

 

A giant of a man

to whom history bows

In debt we live

our souls endowed

 

The first to lead us

the first to pray

The last to leave us

‘Tis Well’ this day

 

(Valley Forge Memorial Chapel: June, 2022)

Laboring in obscurity

my dog forgets my name

The hours pass, the moments fade

with every day the same

 

My faith a light that dwindles

belief the final straw

In darkness splayed, my hope betrays

—no luck beyond the draw

 

(The New Room: June, 2022)

 

Poets of convenience

reality to sway

A stain that lasts forever

excuses not parlayed

 

“Thou Shalt Not Kill” long spoken

ancient law upon the land

Religious, secular, or more’ bound

the truth has one command

 

A billion screaming babies

by curettes scraped away

As smug self-righteous killers

demand to have their way

 

The pathway to eternity

lined with voices put to death

“Thou Shalt Not Kill” their epitaph

—damning your last breath

 

(St. Josephs University: September, 1972)

To hell with your endorsement,

how false opinion reigns

My words to seek a higher realm

where spirit is reclaimed

 

As critics in a barrel,

the bottom layer is yours

To hum and drum reflected yarn

—self-serving au du jour

 

(The New Room: June, 2022)

It’s not about

your need to hear

but what I need to say

 

The words unbartered

spoken clean

released to have their way

 

They choose their own

intended path

in beelines of advance

 

To scent the air

with every breath

—beyond your circumstance

 

(Saint David’s Pennsylvania: June, 2022)