Paved over deep,
my thoughts below
Once brilliant shades
of amber glow
The darkest light,
I now befriend
Whose darkest thoughts,
I sought to end
While further down,
the chanting starts
No mockingbirds,
no meadowlarks
Where stillness reigns,
the present weeps
My ashes cool,
my soul retreats
Lodged six feet under
below the crowd
Though sleep eternal
—no dreams allowed
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)
A briefcase full of sorrow…
the hiding place of tears
One trade to end all others
excuse to lie and steal
The papers hide the story
all documents in vain
As grief belies the glory
—of a life that deals in pain
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)
I lie down in the shadows
where no one can reach me
My seventh and last
place to hide
The sixth was a funeral,
the fifth when in hospice
The fourth was each time
that I lied
The third was a promise
I made to a girl
That she took
to her own grave
The second a promise
I made to myself
From a vision
my Grandmother gave
The first was the darkness
where I exited that world
On a day that was
cold and bright
Now the process is finished,
as I hide for the last time
In the shadows
—and safe from the light
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2010)
Never asking for permission,
always being sure
His head was held firmly,
his mind had stayed pure
Never seeking your acknowledgement
or umbrella against the rain
His words exploded thunder
—truth pouring down again
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)
A book with no cover,
a man with no name
Vowels dormant and muted,
as consonants reign
A plot with no purpose,
an ending refrained
Its message in conflict
—with footnotes of pain
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)
The dreams of a soldier…
dead bodies impound
A warrior’s spirit
his enemy found
The battle once over
a new war to find
Though death be not imminent
—all sleep to remind
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)
The naked epiphany
—visions only Queen
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)
One foot in front of the other…
that’s usually enough
One thought no longer indentured
captive or rebuffed
One heart in search of love
a new life to begin
One verse free and uncensored
—your legacy to sing
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)
A man must be measured
to call himself such
Each storm must be weathered
its helmsman so clutch
Fire must be extinguished
for growth to begin
The seeds of new virtue
—from the ashes of sin
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)
The eyes of a poet
The heart of a warrior
The soul of a prophet
—but the words of a man
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)
An Anthology Of Perception 