Once free of the body,

into the soul

Majestic reversal,

the minstrels have told

 

A crown made of virtue,

death in the past

Whose regal foretelling

—a message to last

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

Modern thought…

a footnote to Plato

 

Enshrined in our memory

—recalled and retold

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

Short in stature,

long in fight,

the zealot stood his ground

 

The odds unfavored,

no end in sight,

 victory still unfound

 

The daylight haunting,

the body count,

the field a sea of blood

 

A bugle blowing

for one last charge,

advancing through the mud

 

With force depleted

but spirit whole,

his voice heard far and wide…

 

“Into the jaws

of certain death

—for glory now we ride”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

 

 

All of my life,

living for today

 

All of tomorrow,

living for tomorrow

 

None of my life,

living for yesterday

 

Lived as today

—as today was tomorrow

 

(Reading ‘The Portable Einstein,’ September, 2020)

 

“Today was tomorrow

—to all of yesterday”

 

 

I’ve crawled through the logic,

but where’s the trap door

 

The one to escape through,

where there’s something more

 

I’ve labored with reason,

my notes here to show

 

Its path ever narrow,

restricting the flow

 

Epistemological

gods of my youth

 

Now dust covered relics

and long in the tooth

 

The ethical paradigm,

sainted deceit

 

Whose judgment is final,

yet hard to believe

 

Dichotomy calling,

 last road to go down

 

Until love’s dialectic

—turns me around

 

(Villanova University: September, 2020)

Auditioning for myself

the lights went down

the sound amped up

my head turned round

 

Auditioning for myself

the handbill flew

into the seats

the chosen few

 

Auditioning for myself

last line unread

the words reborn

inside my head

 

Auditioning for myself

I begged my leave

the stage door open

—a last reprieve

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

 

 

Prescribed philosophy…

 medicine of the soul

 

Brainchild of the gods

—thoughts becoming whole

 

(Newtown Square Pennsylvania: September, 2020)

That unshared secret…

a crawlspace of denial

where shadows keep your heart at bay,

lonely all the while

 

To hide in darkened corners,

as falsehood lends its smile

your mind left cramped—all virtue tramped,

banished and exiled

 

(Dreamsleep: September, 2020)

I ran over

the edge of uncertainty

 

To convince you

of what I didn’t know

 

Falling into the abyss

of deception

 

Where the pretenders

and charlatans go

 

(Dreamsleep: September, 2020)

Physician heal thy body…

virtue heal thy soul

 

Wounds profane—blood reclaimed,

whose sutured truth is told

 

(Dreamsleep: September, 2020)