To Shibumi (Rest In Peace) +2

“I drive people away,

  that’s what I do

To stay away

  myself renewed”

My life was meant

To be lived alone

In spite of what

You think you know

Inside myself

My only home

Whose armor never

Chinks when stoned

My life bereft

I know to you

Seems lonely  

Often misconstrued

But joy from heaven

Self-contained

Unto myself

Lives unrestrained

“If I drove you away, please take heart,

  my back was turned to all

To die alone, my most fervent wish

   —with no one left to call”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2014)

Betrothed

 Virtue is a lover

  —that must be wed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2014)

Venturing Beyond

My life’s been a mess,

  but more than anything

  —I wanted to die well

To make up for those times

 I struggled and failed

  —and shorted the line

The people who knew me

 were driven away

   —in vain their love fell

Making love to my mistakes

 my hours were sentenced

   —through heartache defined

My life at an end

 more than anything else

   —I hope to die well

Undeserving of this honor

 I know that my chances

  —are slim, mostly gone

I still have to try

 to take any meaning

 —from this place where I dwell

A final reminder

 of all I am not

  —as I venture beyond

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2018)