If you are

vacant of hope

Hope is vacant

of you

 

If you are

distant of spirit

Spirit

distant of you

 

If you are

absent of feeling

Feeling

absent of you

 

If you are

left without love

Love is left

— without you

 

(Rereading ‘Leaves Of Grass’: July, 2025)

The joker

in the deck

The jester

holding court

The witness

at my trial

The voice

— of time itself

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Downwind of the

Halal Cart

my stomach

starts to growl

 

Foreign smells

have filled the air

my appetite

to prowl

 

Those places

I have yet to go

but memory

knows so well

 

Another life

another time

where Heaven

— sleeps with Hell

 

(The Corner Of 34^th & Market Streets: July, 2025)

 

 

Perpetual moments

the key

to existence

Memory

your biggest

foe

 

Blocking

the path

to future promise

Lapsing

forgetfulness

grows

 

Time an illusion

a crutch

for the weak

To hobble

and stumble

in constant retreat

 

This instant

recurring

 when chosen at will

Where Poets

and Prophets

— forever instill

 

(Villanova University: July, 2025)

Kill the spark

the fire dies

Mute one voice

and Poets cry

 

Kill the larva

kill the host

Burn your bridges

— post by post

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

There’s gray

in my beard

but no gray

in my soul

Where Peter Pan

flies

Cherub’s wings

in control

 

My edges

though silver

my center

of gold

One glance

never tells you

what prescience

— beholds

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Writers write

everyone else

— just talks

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Keeping

memories close

pushing

people away

I live in  

the safety

of what’s held

at bay

 

Trading

the future

retreading

the past

Living

nostalgic

for what

cannot last

 

Each

invitation

each corner

unturned

Calls to me

distant

calls to me

spurned

 

But I keep

on running

retracing

old steps

As voices

still follow

in search

— of me yet

 

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

What is a color

obstructed

What is a sonnet

untold

What is the price

of reluctance

Tainted in silver

or gold

 

What is the weight

of your damming

What is a blessing

unused

What is the lifespan

of choices unmade

Measured in freedom

— recused

 

(The First Book Of Prayers: July, 2025)

Stuck to

myself

the glue starts

to lift

Exposing

my nature

a soul

frozen stiff

 

Letting

me go

the dermis

strips off

The sun

rushing in

 melting

the frost

 

Open

to light

new Angels

take hold

Rebuilding

my past

 the future

remolds

 

All dread in

the mirror

now turned to

the wall

My essence

unfrozen

and prescience

— rethawed

 

(The New Room: July, 2025)