We are never

  so afraid

 

As when frightening

  ourselves

 

That face in the mirror,

  the one that won’t leave

 

A shadow looming over

  —eternity’s sleeve

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Will there ever come a time

  when time doesn’t matter

 

Will there ever come a date

  when the days won’t connect

 

Will there ever come a phrase

   its words devoid of meaning

 

Will there ever come a song

  whose melody won’t play

 

Have you let what you celebrate

  turn into celebrity

 

Has your message been transformed

  into a billboard or sign

 

Have you become a caricature

  of a free and lasting symbol

 

Have your words become mere chatter

   —in your pandering for fame

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

The older I get…

 the closer I become to the things I can’t see

 

The older I get…

 the more I’m amazed by the things that surround me

 

The older I get…

 the longer the nights and the dreams that they bring

 

The older I get…

 empty words falling mute—each new season to sing

 

The older I get…

  those women that I loved I now carry inside

 

The older I get…

 that child I once was to return with a smile

 

The older I get

 the deeper I embrace the reason I’m here

 

The older I get

  each moment a gift—with its vision so clear

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2018)

Darkness, the beginning path

  spawns brightness at the end

 

Storm clouds over a troubled youth

  division on the mend

 

Struggles, trials, and failures past

  just fuel to keep you warm

 

Sagacity, the final truth

   —eyes seeing through the harm

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Every book has a hundred messages

  trying to get out

 

Every song has ten inside of it

  waiting to sing loud

 

Every painting has a hidden image

   fighting to be shown

 

And every poem has a secret voice

   —dying to be known

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

There are stages you run to

  and from stages to hide

 

The performance of a lifetime

  or the shame that will chide

 

There are actors in character

   and actors on loan

 

One change in direction

  —and all meaning has flown

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

The great American Songbook

  whose words march off the page

 

Its music now a footnote

  —to a century of rage

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 The words were muddy

  the feelings clear

 

The blues on fire

 —the ending near

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

From the rock of ages

  a pebble thrown

 

A thundering crash

 —from David’s stone

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

Sentenced wrongly

  imprisoned well

 

The bars a fortress

  —where voices dwell

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)