Writing …

first last

 and always  

—its own reward

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

The square root

of -1

whose forest drops

a tree

 

Where hearing

goes holistic

no longer

by degree

 

What’s proven

first imagined

 true power

of the mind

 

Conceptual

enlightenment

 images

—divine

 

(Villanova University: August, 2023)

God save the king

but not the queen

Her neck awaits

the guillotine

Someone to blame

each sacrifice

The son he wanted

whose birth on ice

 

The throne half-vacant

one seat to fill

The royal maidens

appear at will

Which one will prosper

how many fall

Into the moat

—of fate’s recall

 

(The New Room: October, 2023)

Do you write to a standard

that isn’t your own

Do you pledge your allegiance

to a dilettante throne

 

Do you shut out your Muse

when her words pierce the skin

Do you think before feeling

looking out never in

 

Is your nighttime belabored

with dreams from the past

Is the daylight a hunter

 your guilt running fast

 

Is the one choice that’s left you

the one you can’t make

Is the courage required

—your one failing grace

 

(Dreamsleep: October, 2023)

Hope may wane

and wishes fade

but art forever keeps

Dawn till dusk

till dawn again

incessance buried deep

Sculptors sculpt

and painters paint

as writers seize the day

Creation’s bridge

 its toll insures

—tomorrow’s yesterday

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)

Everything

points to something

the many to the one

 

Everyone

liege to someone

with fealty’s bow restrung

 

Everywhere

started somewhere

whose map undrawn curates

 

Every song

birthed in silence

—where voices incubate

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)

Stealing fire from the gods

Prometheus would yearn

And pass it off to humankind

whose banishment interred

 

Their feet into the glowing coals

but faith out from the dark

Enlightenment a powder keg

—uncareful wishing sparks

 

(The New Room: September, 2023)

The poetry of prayer …

elevation of the self

Every phrase to mark the path

with meanings higher dealt

Each word releases karma

that joy alone can free

The many none — but one the sum

of all that we can be

 

(1^st Book Of Prayers: September, 2023)

“The same as it was

before I arrived …

Some better, some worse

some forever contrived”

 

“With good and with evil

my battle is done

A trumpet plays distant

His will zero sum”

 

A ticket to punch

with time ever slight

The Reaper approaching

and blocking the light

 

An Angel in transit

late for His train

My fate his arrival

or lost to refrain

 

The scythe drawing closer

its blade like an asp

raising in silence   

perdition unmasked

 

But tracks start to rumble

a headlight I see

Saint Peter as promised

—one Angel for me

 

(1^st Book Of Prayers: September, 2023)

Impress

with your meaning

not with your word choice

‘Labyrinth’

dallies

when ‘Mazes’ will do

 

Build

toward an ending

the shorter the better

The Bullet

strikes deepest

—straight fired and true

 

(Dreamsleep: September, 2023)