The Present Calls (+9)

Unstop the drain

  kiss the pain

  let nature run its course

 

Trip the wire

  start the fire

  new vision at its source

 

Time unstrung

  past on the run

  tomorrow lies to all

 

Hearts open wide

  the moment flies

   —past memory to recall

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

Two Warriors

 

The last bout of the night

  two warriors would fight

  with legends

  now at hand

 

Feet and fists wrapped

  their spirits attacked

  and of their bodies

  they would demand

 

Each kick got higher

  as two hearts aspired

  to what lay just beyond

  their grasp

 

And as the referee sounded

  over hearts that still pounded

  only the best of each other

    —had they asked

 

(Seoul Korea: August, 1976)

 

 

 

 

Catherine

 

“We’re all human” my Grandmother

    used to say

     —some of us are just more human than others

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

Darkness Disowned

 

Since you left

 —poetry has become my lover

 

Since you left

 —long days have turned to moments

 

Since you left

 —all memory lives organic

 

Since you left

 —the words return unfettered

 

Since you left

 —the sun has lost its shadow

 

And since you left

  —all darkness now disowned

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

The Change

 

The way you think

  may not change

 

But the way you feel

  about those thoughts

   —certainly will

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

Co-Weavers

 

I’m not part of

  any movement

 

Or adhere to

  any Regent

 

I don’t follow

  any rules

 

That aren’t in most part

  my own

 

I don’t

  attempt to teach

 

Or begin

  to preach

 

A stronger

  thread

 

Than

  what you’ve sewn

 

I don’t typecast

  iconoclast

 

Or look for

  acceptance

 

Under the cover

  of my thoughts

 

In the darkness

  of my room

 

I don’t criticize

  bastardize

 

Or tear apart your

  weaving

 

Asking only the same

  from you

 

As you sit upon

  your loom

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

Toward The Light

 

Rejecting the parts

The whole became

Clear...

In the absence of

Separation

The remnants of

Confusion and chaos

Paving

The way

Toward the

Light…

And the man

I would again

Become

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

Why Not

 

If a boy, 

  why not a poet

 

If a poet,

  why not a warrior

 

If a warrior,

  why not a hero

 

If a hero

 —why not a man

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

A Melody Unsung

 

Can you be distracted by the critic

  or the public acclaim

 

Can you see through the fire

  and renew all that’s burned

 

Can you look past the signposts

  and those messages fixed

 

Can your heart stay undamaged

  as the world tempts your soul

 

Can you run through loud voices

  with yours still unspoken

 

Can you make it to tomorrow

  without leaving today

 

Can you give love to those hateful

  with vengeance recalled

 

Can you carry your grandfather’s words

  into the land of the unborn

 

Can you hang up your spear

  inside the enemy camp

 

Can you live to see the beginning

  and the end die at last

 

Can your voice remain pure

  neither bartered nor loaned

 

Can you listen through the smoke

   —for a melody unsung

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)

 

 

 

Your Mistress Defiled

 

Has your violence

 taken you to places

 I’ve not been?

 

Or driven you

 to things

 I’ve not seen?

 

Was your soul

 mired in conflict

 once raised from the dead?

 

Were your walls

 built to fortify

 excuses and blame?

 

Have your choices

 been forged by

 damnation and fear?

 

Did love matter at all

 when it cried

 through the pain?

 

Could you still hear its voice

 on those darkest

 of nights?

 

Are those places you

 conquered

 in tribute now shamed?

 

Did your victims

 kneel down

 their heads bowed in defeat?

 

Was mercy rejected

 your mistress

 defiled?

 

Has your violence

 taken you to places

 I’ve not been?

 

Or driven you

 to things

 I’ve not seen?

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)