The Myth Of Fame

Fighting Tuesday’s boredom,

he decided to play a game

 

And because he’d never done it,

he decided to test his fame

 

He mouthed the most nonsensical words,

with imagery askant

 

Then wrote them down from right to left,

a backward forward rant

 

To see if then his audience,

could make sense of this ruse

 

He published in the New York Times,

for readers there to muse

 

To his surprise they cheered and raved,

and called his name out loud

 

And said that T.S. Eliot,

from his gravesite would be proud

 

They found deep meaning in every word,

each rooted as a farce

 

And saw an abstract Moby Dick,

within his dark discourse

 

With pen in hand he pushed away,

and leaned back in his chair

 

And scratched his head in wonderment

—at the myth his fame could bear

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2017)

Still To Run

Your page now short on substance,

yet colorful the rhyme

 

The words used in abundance,

where lesser might define

 

Intention slave to beauty,

all meaning zero sum

 

Pageantry lost in the wind

  —your blood left still to run

 

(Grantham New Hampshire: February, 2017)

Truth Still Asks

Were you at one with yourself

while writing it

 

Did the beginning

have an end

 

Did each word describe,

or then inflame

 

What light

can only bend

 

Did you gag

on meaning bundled

 

Were you trapped

behind its door

 

Were you—are you

self-professed

 

Does truth still ask

for more

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2019)