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’

I write the first draft,

  and paint the second

 

But the third draft

  —I get to sing

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

You steal my breath,

  as I borrow your words

 

You fill my eyes,

  as I empty my fear

 

Your heart beats in my chest,

  as it breaks in my soul

 

You begin where I end

  —symbiosis reborn

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)

This poem I read

 at the end of my life…

 

As I bid you adieu

 from the joy and the strife

 

A verse filled with hope,

 and with love from within

 

To carry inside you,

 my song on the wind

  

I’ll try not to preach,

 as others have done

 

But rather beseech you,

 your songs yet unsung

 

To love with the strength

 that’s God given inside

 

And to love even more,

 in an unending rhyme

 

These words are my gift,

 I bequeath you today

 

In the hope you’ll remember

 what I last had to say

 

For I loved you all deeply,

 your kindness I sought

 

And remember now sweetly,

 those blessings you brought

 

So I leave you this morning,

 and bid you farewell

 

I leave you together,

 pledged hearts here to dwell

 

All strength in your sharing,

 my love to remind

 

Your redemption awaits

 —its salvation divine

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)