In The Tears Of A Stranger

I learned many things from him …

 

That the trackless path

is gifted

to those

who believe

That the distance

between thoughts

can only be connected

by words

That the idea itself

 is worthless

without the thing

it expressed

That tomorrow

is no more important

than yesterday

or today

That the bullfighter

must never die

with the bull

still alive

That revolution

is the truest place

where death

is reborn

That real courage

is only measured

by the one

sorely lacking

That to love her once

is better

than to love

her again

That you must

when you must

until the bugles

have stopped

That worshipping

oneself

is life’s fatal

devotion

That the jungle

we chase

is the jungle

we live in

That the willingness

to say it

frees a willingness

to act

That each great new

adventure

begets a greater

new ending

That in the tears

of a stranger

bleeds the heart

— of a friend

 

(Key West: January, 1994)

 

 

Heard To Whisper

There’s a lingering shadow

that follows us all

Counting each breath

each step till we fall

 

Its pall ever darkens

while just out of reach

Its voice heard to whisper

through mountain and beach

 

It sees every moment

both joyous and sad

Recording our journey

the good and the bad

 

And then on that day

when our fate meets the end

Its arms wrap around us

— our very last friend

 

(The New Room: June, 2025)

Sound Bites: 6-4-2025

Lighting Tomorrow

 

Memory’s

lantern

near empty

unfilled

 

Each night

in the darkness

to flicker

until

 

Your eye

without warning

a flash

unexplained

 

Forever

relighting

and fanning

— the flame

 

(Dreamsleep: June, 2025)

 

 

Shamal Winds

 

Lost

in the deepest

recesses of myself

And happier

than I have

any right to be

The hidden

regions

my newfound oasis

A Bedouin

convert

— home among the sands

 

(The New Room: June, 2025)

 

Infestation

 

The American Dream

becoming

a nightmare …

Conscripted

by strangers

new thieves in the night

Usurping

our freedoms

embedded among us

Invested in nothing

but

— what they can steal

 

(University Of Pennsylvania: June, 2025)

 

 

Leaving The Noise

 

He came into

silence

like fish

take to water

 

The only thing

constant

his being

alone

 

To wander

the alleys

of quiet

reception

 

The noise

and confusion

for others

— to drone

 

(The New Room: June, 2025)

 

 

Remembering Laura

Walking South

on the beach

in front of Doral

I heard a woman sing …

“If you put the man

back in romance

I’ll put the lay

back in lady”

Catching up to her

I asked

where she first

heard the song

She said: “It’s mine

do you like it?

It still

needs more work

I was hoping

this walk

would enchant

or inspire”

At the Fontainebleau

I said: “I do very much

Let me help you write

 the second verse”

 

(Miami Beach: 1982)