Some go

through life

in a sophomoric

zone

 

Knowing about

strangers

while being

alone

 

To ever

quote names

or that face

in the crowd

 

Aggrandizing

self

as their folly

— astounds

 

(Reading Market Philadelphia: May, 2025)

A Poet dies

and

the world lives

to mourn

Rereading his

words

a new spirit

is born

 

In paradigms

searching

for hope and

reprieve

His memory

calls out

to those

— who believe

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)

Wrap your poem

around nothing

its bow mocked

in relief

Each word

but a gesture

of empty

deceit

 

Wrap your verse

in a vacuum

where all speech

is abhorred

The power

of emptiness

alone

— and unscored

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)

Days beyond memory

born in perfection

Light unrefracted

teasing the sun

 

Time without numbers

thought unencumbered

Lost in beginnings

— never to end

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)

 

Immortality

a panacea

if not for the cost

— mortality

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)

I heard

death call

before seeing

its face

Far in

the distance

it sent

its embrace

 

Each sound

an omen

betrothed

deep inside

Announcing

the groom

awaiting

— the bride

 

(The New Room: May, 2025)

YEARS

into months

MONTHS

into weeks

WEEKS

into days

DAYS

into hours

HOURS

into minutes

MINUTES

into seconds

SECONDS

into moments

MOMENTS

— sublime

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)

 

The bow of

God’s wrath

is restrung in

the dark

To target

injustice

and hate

as its mark

Each arrow

His judgment

of life

in the main

And striking

dead center

He frees us

— again

 

(1^st Book Of Prayers: May, 2025)

In the end

we die alone

 

In the end

no blade to hone

 

In the end

do Angel’s call

 

In the end

when rhythm stalls

 

In the end

which deck unstacks

 

In the end

our health attacked

 

In the end

we pray for more

 

In the end

but fate endures

 

In the end

one final change

 

In the end

whose face remains

 

In the end

the bonds break free

 

In the end

— one last decree

 

(Radnor Pennsylvania: May, 2025)

Can you hope

to guarantee

the truth

of conclusion

 

The paradox

of confirmation

the duality

of illusion

 

Can you swear

on ten bibles

only lying

on nine

 

With assurances

granted

before losing

— your mind

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2025)