I came to your hospice,
I came here to die
I came for my family
a final goodbye
I broke that one promise,
I most wanted to keep
Alone on my mountain,
no mourners to weep
The doctors and nurses,
they prod and they poke
Their intentions most noble,
my spirit on dope
In the night, strangers faces
call out my name
And act like they know me
new pawn in the game
If I had that one wish
still left unfulfilled
I would walk to the rim
of the Canyon so still
At dawn I would jump
with both arms open wide
Saying: Thank you Dear Lord
—for a wonderful ride
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Icebergs Melt
Simple words
and deeper meanings
Softer thoughts
and harder leanings
Letters line up
straight and true
But often they bring
something new
Simple words
and deeper meanings
Icebergs melt,
the flow still gleaming
Say it once,
and say it plain
Your heart will roar
—your soul to gain
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
A New Song
The answers deceive
The questions stand
The dancers leave
To track the sand
Round robin conspiracy
Threatens us all
The letters all lower case
The finality TALL
Butting my head
Inside of the line
Where does it end, Father
Maybe this time
The black and the white of it
The tall and the short
The poisons the same
One knife in the pork
New action may draw
What inaction restrains
What once again, once again
Once again drains
So back to the future
Back to the past
Choose not your weapon
You’ve had your last laugh
The wind’s in the vestibule
New breath in the hymn
Your darkness commands
What the light needs to win
The seven unsavory
The eight still to roast
The turkey unstuffed
Leaving room for the ghost
So ride away, ride away
Ride away all
The damage inflicted
This hammer a mall
The blood’s in the alleyway
Life beckons on
Death has been slaughtered
—as begins the new song
(Rosemont Pennsylvania: August, 2014)
That Tux In Your Mind
Do they only get dressed
for those formal affairs
Are your words clothed in rags
when no one else seems to care
Awaiting an invitation,
do the hours seem long
Your verse patent leather
set to dance to a song
Are the verbs sharp as linen,
is your meaning like silk
Is delayed expectation
and the silence your ilk
Do your words hang in limbo
like that tux in the dark
In a closet unspoken
—where the verses take heart
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
To Harness The Wind
I rode the emotion like a horse
until the shoes fell off one by one
Leaving me silent and alone
A horseless prophet on the raging sands
—desperately trying to harness the wind
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Until Last Night
Until last night I had never been alone,
never bereft of sleep
Until last night I had never been afraid,
never afraid to dream
Until last night my thoughts were in stone,
indecision a foreigner sure
Until last night my will had been staid,
my conscience both steadfast and pure
—until last night
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)