In a virtual reality
I found my father online
Though he died before the internet
a man of his time
So how is this possible
that an email appears?
From a website immortal
in cyberspace near
I knew it was him
with each line that I read
I knew it was him
from what he left unsaid
In trying to print
my screen crashed in error
“No document found,
the message interred”
Was I just imagining
or losing my mind?
His words never clearer
for me to then find
I’ve thought of him often
as I’ve struggled and fought
And carried inside me
those lessons he taught
With every search engine
I’ve looked and I’ve prayed
For just one more message
—to rebalance my days
(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2018)
One Way Mirror
If ignorance is truly bliss,
and the Emperor has new clothes
Then who am I to judge at all
—where peace and freedom go
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
Your Original Sin
What’s that you’ve settled for?
What’s that you say?
From the library of excuses
You reason away
It seems almost this
But never quite that
As the present escapes
And you look further back
No comfort to take
In that notch on your gun
As you fire in vain
And continue to run
But you say it’s enough
It will then have to do
You repeat what’s been spoken
Never anything new
And you look for a club
Others thinking the same
To plead their excuses
Blaspheme and profane
But alone in the vestibule
A soul fires away
And speaks about life
And its maxims today
His message reoffered
But again you look back
The last sinners you follow
Leaving motherless tracks
Your death now committed
To the lies that you’ve told
And your headstone engraved
With letters that scold
Once eternity beckoned
With your eyes looking up
And drawing strength from it
You drank from its cup
But that story’s been told
You’re alone in the ground
Scant little reminder
You were ever around
As your bones become dust
To be reclaimed by the wind
Those excuses you trusted
—your original sin
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
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)
Visual Darkness
The picture worth 1000 words
is priced only one way
Its value screaming
—until eyes close
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
Twin Pillars
Is there a balance
Between poetry and prose
Anymore than a balance
between these and those
Is there a balance
Between poetry and prose
Or maybe a marriage
Where ‘heaven only knows’
If there’s a balance
Between poetry and prose
Are there rules to be broken
Where anything goes
Or is the real balance
Between poetry and prose
Truth sitting on top
—their twin pillars below
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
Never Act
Be what you are
just don’t act like it
Be who you are
—and never act at all
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
The Answer
Did you die alive
or did you live dead
The answer saying everything
—meant to be said
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)
Faithful And Alone
Writing to no other standard
but his own
He was forever faithful
—and forever alone
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2014)