The Wages Of Sin

A late night deposit

  from my spirit to my soul

 

A transfer without interest

  all currency stole

 

The bank’s main door won’t open,

  the drive-thru is dark

 

The side door unlocked

  with the hallway unmarked

 

The clerk’s eyes on fire,

  as she asks me my name

 

“It’s there on the check”

  I repeat in refrain

 

“Your last transaction I see,

  we’ll be losing you now

 

“This account to be closed

  —take the elevator down”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 

The World In Denial

Old men making deals

  the young taking bullets

 

Politicians to steal

  no one to prevent it

 

Athletes and rappers

  sit on the throne

 

Parents and teachers

  their message disowned

 

Freedom on trial

  both inside and out

 

The world in denial

  —all truth cast in doubt

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

 

 

As Night The Day

Do your politics define you…

 are your views then left or right?

 

Does the axe you grind cut sharp and clean

 or tear into the night?

 

Do the precepts that you claim to own

 just end up owning you?

 

Is every word what you believe

 —and to thine self be true?

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)

My Faith Will Move On

My cupboards a mess,

  my sink filled with lye

 

My stables now empty,

  my well has gone dry

 

My pastures left fallow,

  my timber all burned

 

My streams have been fished out,

  and what have I learned

 

The cupboard can be restocked,

  the sink can be cleaned

 

A new well can be dug,

  a new colt can be weaned

 

As the dams are reopened,

  new roe will then spawn

 

These troubles will pass

  —and my faith will move on

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

     ‘From The Book Of Prayers’