Religions survive
through subjugation
Without it,
they are lost
Wielding guilt as a weapon,
they proffer salvation
Enlightenment and freedom
—their cost
(Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania: May, 2019)
To Never Explain
Within every verse,
many meanings reside
The reader determines
in which couplet you hide
The words both descriptive
with colors aglow
The eyes as important
as what the ears know
When backed in a corner,
don’t ever explain
Words beckon discovery,
refusing one name
The same reader may leave
with a differing view
Each time he goes over
and finds something new
A question once opened
can never be closed
And verse penned inherent
forever to know
With time of no consequence,
your poetry waits
For the next searching pilgrim
—your words to relate
(Rosemont Pennsylvania: May, 2019)
In Charge Of The Night
Being close to the right thing
Is farther from the right thing
Than the wrong thing is from
Being right
To see and not believe
To look and not touch
Much better to be blind
—and in charge of the night
(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2019)
One\'s Own Breath
The joy in the writing,
all reading to construe
Spoken loud with one’s own breath
—a vanity so true
(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)
Wishes Still To Pray
Are they waiting for me patient,
as I’m caught up in the game
Are they counting down the moments,
till I breathe my last refrain
Do they wonder why I dawdle,
with an opening so wide
Do excuses stoop to waddle,
as my tardiness contrives
Is that light beyond my tunnel,
to burn forever long
Is the torch that lights my funeral,
one to mark and count upon
What now keeps me in this moment,
as new paths have cleared away
Is it something that I haven’t said
—or wishes still to pray
(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2016)