Intention is to fact,

as water is to ice

 

Its truth in transformation

—the naughty and the nice

 

(Dreamsleep: September, 2019)

Regurgitant youth,

digestive age

 

All life a buffet,

serving up on the page

 

Chew before swallowing,

savor each piece

 

That first you ingested

—forever to feast

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)

Is honor sum total,

or dolled out by degree

 

Can it live through confusion,

and your failings to be

 

Are those moments of weakness,

made up when you strive

 

To become more than just living,

eternal—alive

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)

Gripping the meteor,

both hands for dear life

 

Expelling, compelling,

less heat and more light

 

Afraid to let go,

knowing what it will mean

 

My pen to go dry

—my heart not to bleed

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Does your writing leave room

for intrusion

 

With spaces for listeners

to crawl in

 

Are your words like a sponge

that the reader can drain

 

Your verses to flow through

them again

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Is remembrance now a hidden tenant,

that lives throughout your home

 

Does it lurk in every corner,

to come out when you’re alone

 

Is the voice heard down a distant hall,

a lost child once left about

 

Does that face now staring through the dark,

draw you in—or turn you out

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

If you don’t write

everything down

 

Then at least take

everything in

 

Seeds once planted,

ripen and grow

 

A blind eye

—the killer within

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

Devoted to my writing,

a prayer with every word

 

Faithful to each line I write,

my verse—my spoken Lord

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When you’re old,

  and the signs are in letters so big?

 

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When you’re young,

with it’s messages trapped in the wind?

 

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When it’s winter,

and the cold bellows loudly with fear?

 

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When it’s summer,

love teasing, its distraction so near?

 

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When your life has been bartered,

the present dismissed?

 

When should you get ready

to die…

 

When your soul has been mortgaged

—last payment remiss?

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

 

The mouthpiece of ignorance

is gossip

 

The wellspring of gossip

—is lies

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)