To hell with your endorsement,
how false opinion reigns
My words to seek a higher realm
where spirit is reclaimed
As critics in a barrel,
the bottom layer is yours
To hum and drum reflected yarn
—self-serving au du jour
(The New Room: June, 2022)
Poets Of Convenience
Poets of convenience
reality to sway
A stain that lasts forever
excuses not parlayed
“Thou Shalt Not Kill” long spoken
ancient law upon the land
Religious, secular, or more’ bound
the truth has one command
A billion screaming babies
by curettes scraped away
As smug self-righteous killers
demand to have their way
The pathway to eternity
lined with voices put to death
“Thou Shalt Not Kill” their epitaph
—damning your last breath
(St. Josephs University: September, 1972)