After Midnight
The narcissists fall
After Midnight
A new lyric calls
After Midnight
Last bugle to blow
After Midnight
There’s more left to know
After Midnight
The lizards collect
After Midnight
Old tales to reflect
After Midnight
The ticking will stop
After Midnight
The bottom will top
After Midnight
A cancerous tome
After Midnight
Malignancy known
After Midnight
Betray and deceive
After Midnight
Alone in the siege
After Midnight
All footsteps fall deaf
After Midnight
Lost palates are cleft
After Midnight
New story to front
After Midnight
Two stars for the dunce
After Midnight
The comets rebel
After Midnight
The coroners yell
After Midnight
A suit made of steel
After Midnight
Its melting reveals
After Midnight
That voice in the back
After Midnight
There’s no turning back
After Midnight
A sacred oath sworn
After Midnight
All memory forlorn
After Midnight
The wheels bend and churn
After Midnight
Lost vision returns
After Midnight
False birth is stillborn
After Midnight
Old vestments are torn
After Midnight
The here and the now
After Midnight
That one sacred cow
After Midnight
Past-Future unseen
After Midnight
—creation redeemed
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Without Pain
Can you paint without color,
can you think without language
Can you dance without music
—can you love without pain
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Cum Aetate
The older I get,
the shorter the lines become
The older I get,
more welcome is each morning’s sun
The older I get,
those words rented are now mine to keep
The older I get,
dreams follow me out of my sleep
The older I get,
less rules to impose on the game
The older I get,
hopes and wishes of youth to reclaim
The older I get,
new laughter recalls what I missed
The older I get,
all goodbyes now embrace and dismiss
The older I get,
what I searched for, my searching became
The older I get
what’s forgotten—remembered again
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)