Too Mine To Pay

My road deeply potholed
  with those left behind

Resurfaced with pain
  all casualties mine

A road often fatal
  to family and friends

No roses to line it
  as it twisted and bent

When forced to look back,
  I see nothing but blood

From my hands to the cradle
  on those that I’ve loved

If you ask me my reason
  for acting this way

With eyes straight ahead,
  I’d have nothing to say

The road getting shorter
  compressed in the light

Behind me those bodies
  that questioned my flight

The deeper I travel
  newer endings begin

This toll mine to pay
—heading further within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2017)

Soul To Repast

In reference to nothing
Alone with itself
The truth burns in fury
Damnation to melt
Its legions are many
Believers so few
The stragglers all freezing
And lined in the queue
The mirror the liar
Death hiding within
The priest the deceiver
Who threatens with sin
But truth holds dominion
Setting fire to the throne
Rising above and beyond
What’s self-righteously known
It calls to you silent
As it calls to you loud
Do you hide in the shadows
Or answer back proud
That thing that you reference
From your prison within
Those things done in deference
Now caught in the wind
You lie as you bargain
You cheat and defame
One voice now your jailer
And calling your name
Your back to the altar
You hide in the pew
Before robbing the poor box
A new low for you
Your history tarnished
And legacy shot
Your name ill-begotten
From all you are not
But truth has no time stamp
No ticket to claim
One choice will release it
Life starting again
Your mortal days finite
You have to act fast
Will you ask for redemption
—your soul to repast

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)

Last Curtain To Fall

The older I get
The less people to call
Is it by choice
My spirit’s downfall

The older I get
The less then to care
A life once so pointed
With little to share

The older I get
Beginning to end
The ones that stood by me
The ones I called friends

The older I get
Meat gone from the stew
The faces just names
Of those I once knew

The older I get
Doors lock from within
A constant reminder
The blaming now stings

The older I get
The less people to call
No sand in the hourglass
—last curtain to fall

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2014)

Now Mine To Keep

My first breath every morning
   a thank-you to the Lord

My heart beats then in tribute
  single note in heaven’s chord

My last breath every evening,
  as I close my eyes to sleep

To thank him softly once again
—his grace now mine to keep

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2016)
  From ‘The Book Of Prayers’
  Written for my Grandchildren:
  Kiley, Hunter, Braden and Parker