We breathe the same air
and split the same bed
We share a last name
in silent lament
The children are out
new grandchildren named
But frozen emotion
has left us both lame
The sins of the one
to the other are death
In terminal sorrow
we take our last breaths
Time has no answer
and not often kind
Our inner fruit rotten
—just leaving the rind
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
Love Without Pain
Can you paint without color,
can you think without language
Can you dance without music
—can you love without pain
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Chamberlain Falls
Refusing to fight the major war,
the war based on principles,
the one we can win
We’re forced to fight a never-ending series
of political wars….
ones that we can only lose
We’re trapped in the middle of Appeasement River
and headed for Chamberlain Falls
terror awaiting in the rapids now ahead
Slowing down the current or rowing harder wont
save us, it only extends the time of our demise,
capitulation pulling us under toward the roar
As a country, we’re now in the middle of that river
arguing over who has the water rights….
arguing over whose paddle is best
Until we get off the river and back on dry land,
Chamberlain Falls will continue to pull
—and Armageddon will continue to call
(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)
Compression
Stackable living
hackable lives
On top of each other
like bees in a hive
Inside a box
hard corners to know
A neighbor above
a neighbor below
Stackable moments
fractional lies
The walls serve two masters
invasion implied
All differences measured
in bedrooms and floors
A blueprinted nightmare
its maze underscored
Stackable meaning
the truth wearing thin
Its elevator stuck
stairs covered in sin
The higher you climb
the farther you fall
Stackable living
—the death of us all
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)