Return to the sky,

our moon, Bakunawa

 

Masked Haliya has been called,

the tree circled again

 

Balyana is dancing,

the heaven’s in darkness

 

By the goddess of moonlight

—you’re condemned to the sea

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2020)

Social Distancing not so strange,

I’ve been doing it for years

 

The world a feelings length away,

old lovers left in tears

 

I shared what I shared early,

with my short pants not yet off

 

Trusting in my family first,

I learned—but Oh the cost

 

For fifty years I’ve cloistered,

my psyche left to roam

 

Acquaintances to come and go,

true feelings mine to own

 

As harbormaster of this port,

one ship is anchored deep

 

To sail the inmost seven seas

alone—myself to keep

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2020)

Fighting against you, attacking with words,

hatred my weapon inscribed

 

Fountains of blood each chapter exudes,

keeping you distant—forever alive

 

(Penn Medicine Radnor: April, 2020)

Her hair blown free,

with eyes ablaze

 

She walked toward me,

through morning haze

 

Her steps unmeasured,

her cutoffs tight

 

Eyes palest blue,

the lightest light

 

Would I speak first,

would she respond

 

In ten more seconds,

her image gone

 

Our shoulders brush,

she passes by

 

My arm goes numb,

my heart on fire

 

I had no choice,

I’d lost control

 

My breathing stopped,

I’d play the fool

 

And looking back,

all fear defied

 

An all-star waited

—her ‘Chucks’ untied

 

(State College Pennsylvania: June, 1969)

Why try to write like somebody else,

by others passion driven

 

A watered down copy, trespassing free,

to alien words you’re smitten

 

A copycat artist who mimics the sounds,

your voice a toast unbidden

 

While somebody’s pain and somebody’s joy

—the stolen horse you’ve ridden

 

(Rosemont Pennsylvania: April, 2020)

I would look through the window at feeble old men

and secretly smirk

and secretly pity

 

Now the widow looks back and its message is clear

that old man is you

and the picture’s not pretty

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2020)

Run away from the what, 

let the how lead the way

Keep the questions before you

and the answers at bay

 

Deem your motion perpetual

with all stops left behind

As those presents unwrapped

open up in your mind

 

May the wind rise to greet you

and your sun never set

On those places now virgin

and a lover unmet

 

May the wisdom of sages

be your rallying cry

As you course through the ages

—ever wondering why

 

(Train-New Haven: March, 2015)

Divorced from my shadow,

estranged from the words

 

My heart to philander

—new innocence heard

 

(Dreamsleep: April, 2020)

Lusting after a song unsung,

I hunted through your fear

 

And trapped the demon that kept you mute,

blood dripping from my spear

 

Desirous of your captive voice,

I hung its head up high

 

And waited for you to sing at last

—no longer love denied

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

There’s a clarity that comes with age,

confusion on the run

 

The light much brighter deep inside,

no writing on the come

 

My youth endeavors, drifting lines,

those hedges where I’d hide

 

Have all been trimmed or taken down,

left nothing to deny

 

There’s a clarity that comes with age,

lens sharpened, filters off

 

Regrets left bleeding where they fell,

to die amongst the frost

 

When morning comes my eyes are clear,

the past a long goodbye

 

My vision focused on my dreams

—no longer asking why

 

(Bryn Mawr College: April, 2020)