Unstop the drain
kiss the pain
let nature run its course
Trip the wire
start the fire
new vision at its source
Time unstrung
past on the run
tomorrow lies to all
Hearts open wide
the moment flies
—past memory to recall
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Two Warriors
The last bout of the night
two warriors would fight
with legends
now at hand
Feet and fists wrapped
their spirits attacked
and of their bodies
they would demand
Each kick got higher
as two hearts aspired
to what lay just beyond
their grasp
And as the referee sounded
over hearts that still pounded
only the best of each other
—had they asked
(Seoul Korea: August, 1976)
Catherine
“We’re all human” my Grandmother
used to say
—some of us are just more human than others
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Darkness Disowned
Since you left
—poetry has become my lover
Since you left
—long days have turned to moments
Since you left
—all memory lives organic
Since you left
—the words return unfettered
Since you left
—the sun has lost its shadow
And since you left
—all darkness now disowned
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
The Change
The way you think
may not change
But the way you feel
about those thoughts
—certainly will
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Co-Weavers
I’m not part of
any movement
Or adhere to
any Regent
I don’t follow
any rules
That aren’t in most part
my own
I don’t
attempt to teach
Or begin
to preach
A stronger
thread
Than
what you’ve sewn
I don’t typecast
iconoclast
Or look for
acceptance
Under the cover
of my thoughts
In the darkness
of my room
I don’t criticize
bastardize
Or tear apart your
weaving
Asking only the same
from you
As you sit upon
your loom
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Toward The Light
Rejecting the parts
The whole became
Clear...
In the absence of
Separation
The remnants of
Confusion and chaos
Paving
The way
Toward the
Light…
And the man
I would again
Become
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Why Not
If a boy,
why not a poet
If a poet,
why not a warrior
If a warrior,
why not a hero
If a hero
—why not a man
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
A Melody Unsung
Can you be distracted by the critic
or the public acclaim
Can you see through the fire
and renew all that’s burned
Can you look past the signposts
and those messages fixed
Can your heart stay undamaged
as the world tempts your soul
Can you run through loud voices
with yours still unspoken
Can you make it to tomorrow
without leaving today
Can you give love to those hateful
with vengeance recalled
Can you carry your grandfather’s words
into the land of the unborn
Can you hang up your spear
inside the enemy camp
Can you live to see the beginning
and the end die at last
Can your voice remain pure
neither bartered nor loaned
Can you listen through the smoke
—for a melody unsung
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)
Your Mistress Defiled
Has your violence
taken you to places
I’ve not been?
Or driven you
to things
I’ve not seen?
Was your soul
mired in conflict
once raised from the dead?
Were your walls
built to fortify
excuses and blame?
Have your choices
been forged by
damnation and fear?
Did love matter at all
when it cried
through the pain?
Could you still hear its voice
on those darkest
of nights?
Are those places you
conquered
in tribute now shamed?
Did your victims
kneel down
their heads bowed in defeat?
Was mercy rejected
your mistress
defiled?
Has your violence
taken you to places
I’ve not been?
Or driven you
to things
I’ve not seen?
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)