I deleted another poem tonight
and the Muse raged into fury
“You never asked for my permission” she said,
as her voice thundered deeply inside
“You’ll pay for this in sleepless hours
and nights when dreams are truant…”
Her promises kept, my nights defiled,
and days drag on untethered
As I write yet another “I’m sorry” to her
in verse both coarse and dry
(The New Room: May, 2022)
A Blinding Refrain
Tuning letters like strings
the words are reformed
The rhyme and the meter
the rhythm reborn
Each vowel and each consonant
together in line
No commas or periods
to block or confine
The meaning inherent
and left unexplained
restated once over
a blinding refrain
To put in the file
the future in bold
the verses in couplets
—the reading on hold
(Dreamsleep: May, 2022)