Obeying any moral law,

 reason wills unto itself

 

To play the game the way its staged

  —all freedom thusly dealt

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Be-bop, shu-baby-bop,

 the blues on fire

 

The strings an accelerant,

 the harp but a pyre

 

The melody unseen,

 its heartbeat within

 

Be-bop, shu-baby-bop

 —reality’s hymn

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Borrow from the least,

 but steal from the best

 

The larceny of endowment

 —your legacy’s quest

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Will eternity have

  a yin and a yang

 

Will the forces that govern

  applaud and harangue

 

Will the blessings have value

  if damnation moves on

 

Will it all even matter

  —once tomorrow is gone

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)

Twas once a time you owned my heart,

  then Laura stole it back

 

Through all those years our hearts on fire,

  she waited and she sat

 

She hoped one day our lives would part,

  to never meet, as then…

 

Her voice so soft had cried at night,

  “I want you back again”

 

“You need to promise me this time,

  you’ll never leave me cold

 

“And even if you dally forth,

  your Muse I will behold

 

“To heal you of this tragic drought,

  you brought upon yourself

 

“And give you back the future-past

    —whose presence now unfelt”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)   

Your love to bathe

 in words rephrased

 

With hearts not young

 —or old

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

 

 

As of late,

 I have developed a new best friend

 

It’s my younger self coming

 to visit my end

 

I look in his face,

 and I see a new truth

 

I look in his face,

 and I see more than youth

 

Now more like my father,

 I more like his son

 

The beginning he carries,

 from whose ending I run

 

He tells me he’s followed,

 but I never looked back

 

Always looking beyond,

 what my fear could attack

 

He approaches me close,

 but we’re never to touch

 

The distance between us,

 life’s meaning as such

 

For most of my days

 I planned dying alone

 

But now in his presence,

 every memory reshown

 

He points to my heart,

 as his eyes fly within

 

His vision, my vision

 —eternity’s twin

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Am I so entitled,

 is it there in my name

 

Is the water redemptive,

 my salvation proclaimed

 

Does the Rock Of All Ages

 line my river with stone

 

Are the words mine by birthright,

 not borrowed or loaned

 

Is all time but a servant,

 flowing inward to send

 

A beginning eternal,

 whilst slaying the end

 

Is my legacy written

 in the current redeemed

 

As the present rechristens

 —my baptismal name freed

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

If there’s anything more dangerous

 than a terrorist

  —it’s a corrupt politician

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)

Does the chemist succeed

  without blowing things up

 

Were you ever in need

  from a bout of bad luck

 

Does the tree need to shake

  for the apples to fall

 

Does your heart need to break

  —for new love to then call

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)