Detached from my consciousness,

the monster attacked

 

Feasting first on my memory,

the front then the back

 

Now living inside me,

all day turns to night

 

Connection—rejection,

devouring the light

 

(Radnor Pennsylvania: November, 2020)

 

Sometimes money isn’t enough,

the wheat rejects the chaff

 

Wealth attained by winnowing gain,

the scarecrow only laughs

 

Sometimes money isn’t enough,

the numbers rise and fall

 

Interest accrues­ as attrition renews

—the richest count forestalled

 

(Valley Forge: November, 2020)

 

The winds of disaster

blow solemn and cold,

sweeping away my heart

 

From out of the North, 

reclaiming my soul

—in torment to depart

 

(West Campus: November, 2020)

 

Ladybugs

outline the memory of my childhood,

marking the pathway of my approach

 

Orange and black

like Halloween candy corn,

tempting diversion—they lure to encroach

 

(The New Room: November, 2020)

You have to be immortal

to placate the gods

 

Time reaffirming

all memory of

 

Creation, destruction,

eternity looms

 

For those who believe

—appeasement exhumes

 

(Calvary Cemetery: October, 2020)

Reaching into the maelstrom,

my hands were consumed

 

My spirit to follow

—my will to assume

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2020)

 

It didn’t matter what the titles were,

but that I read them

 

It didn’t matter what the author said,

but that I listened

 

It didn’t matter that his verse trailed off,

the pages yellow and torn

 

It didn’t matter that the world forgot

—what one man put to words

 

(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: October, 2020)

Republican or Democrat,

the wool has been pulled

 

Over the eyes

of a nation of fools

 

The truth is just fine

if we get it spoon fed

 

In our favorite flavor

self-served in our beds

 

While off in the distance

an Angel stands guard

 

Bemused at the folly

we ‘Stepfords’ regard

 

And as he takes flight,

looking down at the fray

 

Seeing into the future…

that reckoning day

 

When we kill one another,

without knowing why

 

Lost sheep running rampant

—redemption denied

 

(Garrett Hill Pennsylvania: October, 2020)

 

His image eternal,

the chisel portrays

 

Beauty in its purest form

—but one word to say

 

(Villanova University: October, 2020)

Shadows on a cave wall,

eyes that look for truth

 

Figments of what sight denies

—dancing resolute

 

(Durango Colorado: September, 2004)