Where are you headed…
the waitress asked me at breakfast

Where have you been to…
I responded in kind

Never down to the Canyon,
though I’ve always meant to go there

I’m headed to the Canyon
—now go quit your job

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

When the world turns on a whisper
—why do we insist on shouting

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2014)

With each step that I take,

  words jostle and form

 

Inside me they cluster,

  deep down where it’s warm

 

At nighttime they visit,

  in moments of peace

 

Defining my feelings

  —extending my reach

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)

Tonight through the darkness,

  I wander and crawl

 

The faces all ghoulish,

  my past to recall

 

Unsure of direction,

  I listen for sounds

 

To possibly guide me,

  as fire abounds

 

I look to my left,

  as hooves thunder past

 

I look to my right,

  and Beelzebub laughs

 

All color has gone,

  just the fieriest red

 

I live out my fear,

  I live out my dread

 

One hope then to muster,

  that faith remains true

 

And guides me inclement,

  past demons anew

 

My despair almost total,

  my regret full in charge

 

I squint through the smoke,

  “there’s new light from afar”  

 

I plod on my knees,

  as it grows bigger still

 

And the temperature drops,

  and the moment refills

 

Now free of damnation,

  my life starts again

 

With sacred commitment,

  forgiven of sin

 

My tomorrows all cherished,

  I live for today

 

Belief my true savior

  —as humbly I pray

 

(West Philadelphia: May, 2019)

Detour to heaven,

  back road to joy

 

Change of direction

  —hope redeployed

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

In all things

  there is a bitterness,

  that time tries to hide

 

In all things

  there is a loneliness,

  coming from inside

 

In all things

  there is a telling,

  where tomorrow may be shown

 

In all things

  there is a reckoning

   —where truth and lies atone

 

(Dreamsleep: May, 2019)

 

If all Philosophy

  is a footnote to Plato

 

Then all Rock & Roll

  —is but a tribute to the Blues

 

(Chicago Illinois: August, 1994)

Life is memory

Art is pain

Time a liar

  —feed the flame

 

(Wayne Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

The Crucifixion self-endowed,

 the greatest of all men

 

His death then chosen, not denied,

  message not forsaken

 

His torment was a sacrifice,

 an offering to all

 

Our souls to rise through bread and wine

   —his voice again to call

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

         From ‘The Book Of Prayers’