The power of dissent

 —a true measure of our freedom

 

(Flagstaff Arizona: February, 2019)

Write intrepid and unafraid…

 your ink to stain their minds

 

Each word a dagger spilling truth,

 new blood for all to find

 

Write intrepid and unafraid,

 your message screaming loud

 

Where dead apostates felt your wrath

 —disciples standing proud

 

(Sedona Arizona: February, 2019)

Striving to be anonymous,

 the hole got deeper still

 

Ties were broken, ropes were cut,

 less water in the well

 

Alone within my loneliness

 the darkness came at last

 

The wish, I wish, I’d wished away

 —had captured me at last

 

(Flagstaff Arizona: February, 2019)

 

 

Racing the dark from Albuquerque to Flagstaff

 old questions trailed behind me

 

The highway marked with broken dreams

 of searchers long ago

 

As Gallup filled my rearview mirror

  the sun reached out and grabbed me

 

My last horizon dropping fast

 —the finish line aglow

 

(Flagstaff Arizona: February, 2019)

Does your mind have a second floor

 that’s very seldom used

 

A place your thoughts can freely roam

 safe from life’s abuse

 

One story up, your story forms,

  its telling far below

 

The height of peace and solitude

   —with space for you to grow

 

(Santa Fe New Mexico: February, 2019)

Time immortal, the master thief,

 stealing tomorrow from the past

 

Abducting each moment, all life itself,

 —today within its grasp

 

(Santa Fe New Mexico: February, 2019)

Time is the mask that all memories wear,

 as feelings age within

 

Time is the bridge where eternity walks,

 each footstep to begin

 

Time is a voice spoken only inside

 where denial cannot hear

 

Time is the measure of what’s yet to come

  —in moments far and near

 

(Santa Fe New Mexico: February, 2019)

There a mountain in my rearview mirror

 a magnet for my soul

 

Pulling on what’s only borrowed 

 its lease to keep me whole

 

There’s a mountain in my rearview mirror

 calling out my name

 

Its winds have blown my heart to rest

 —which time cannot reclaim

 

(Santa Fe New Mexico: February, 2019)

When I want to visit God,

 I go to the Grand Canyon

 

Where she talks to me plainly

 and talks to me clear

 

Staring at eternity

 I look into her depths

 

As she calls to me familiar

 —and calls to me dear

 

(Grand Canyon South Rim: February, 2019)

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

 

(Las Vegas Nevada: January, 2019)