Not the worship of ashes

but transmission of fire

Time at its best

will the Muses inspire

 

Nostalgia and tears

rebury the past

With passion incarnate

— this moment to last

 

(Connelly Center: September, 2025)

 

The dirty laundry

of democracy

Near impossible

to clean

 

You bask in freedom

until it’s gone

Whose nightmare kills

the dream

 

Warts and pimples

in plain view

Perfection

for the sage

 

To govern

as the Lord decrees

Our liberty

uncaged

 

To make those choices

for yourself

And pay the price

be damned

 

Instead of letting

tyrants rule

To serve

— at their command

 

(Villanova University: September, 2025)

Don’t let

your spark

become a fuse

blowing up

the truth

 

Don’t let

the flame

become a blaze

burning down

your youth

 

Don’t be the

kindling

become the tree

that reaches

and extends

 

Don’t be

accused

of lighting the match

on what

— should never end

 

(The New Room: September, 2025)

 

Were you saved

from yourself

before first being born

Form without

matter

praise without scorn

Were you part

of the promise

not taking the vow

When time

was a servant

not death on the prowl

Did life stay

unbidden

when freedom was free

As daylight

till dusk

no I’s came to be

Did morning

chase daylight

unable to stop

The evening

and twilight

on sale to be bought

As the first step

was taken

the second disowned

The first cut

the deepest

— with nothing on loan

 

(The New Room: September, 2025)

 

 

Waiting

for the

audience

to come to him …

He refused

to go to them

 

Shunning

those ears

that hide

from the truth …

Like a rose

without its stem

 

Working

in concert

with Muses

above …

What’s sacred

to remain

 

Each word

and its

treasure

a gift given once …

Their measure

— to proclaim

 

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

 

 

Never complain

never explain

Life on the margins

others sustain

Freeing both ends

caught in the middle

Releasing the truth

— solving the riddle

 

(To Cole Porter: September, 2025)

 

Poetry

 

Neither hobby

nor pastime

its grip ever

grows

 

Its hold on my

heart

through the drought

and the snow

 

Each word

that it sends me

each phrase

to impound

 

And blessing

the silence

my Savior

— resounds

 

(1^st Book of Prayers: August, 2025)

 

Divine Wind

 

Shinto

or Buddhist

the Samurai

served

 

Their honor

and legiance

in blood

was preserved

 

The sword

as their mantle

and spiritual

Lord

 

Death

was their preference

dishonor

— abhorred

 

(Shinjuku Museum: October, 2003)

 

 

Betwixt & Between

 

Better or worse

those two oxymorons

Lying in wait

entrapping the weak

 

Lo  and Behold

they claim self-importance

Lo and Behold

thoughts watered and meek

 

Polar extremes

they float barely conscious

To lure you between them

and hold you quite mad

 

Bye after Bye

they muddle your choices

Bye after Bye

— good orphaned with bad

 

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

 

 

 

My Chronology

ages

as my writing

stays young

 

The years

in retreat

as each new song

is sung

 

A number

but unit

of folly

relayed

 

Whose essence

a symbol

of prescience

— in play

 

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

Confronting

the devil’s lawyer

 destiny entwined

 

Heaven and Hell

in the jury box

fate was on the line

 

The judge

Archangel Raguel

his verdict waits to scream

 

A sentence cast

in fire untold

— to kill the evil dream

 

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

Soft marches

spawn bravado

and cavalier soldier

He who scoffs

at distant gunfire

to meet its fury

Untested untried

untempered

his blade of little worth

As conflict preys

on the folly

— of the paper lion

 

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)