That Voice Inside (+4)

I once tried crossing over

 a bridge that silence built

And for mile after mile

 the quiet maimed and killed

My speech was dumb and dormant

 as I bided all my time

In hope of passing through the cracks

   the exit doors unrhymed

My life dead on arrival

 till a voice inside decreed

To build a frame beneath that bridge

  —and set my meaning free

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

Trailing Closer

Those footsteps ahead

 are now footsteps behind

The past but a memory

 the future declines

My cadence is slowing

 my direction unclear

When frozen in place

 on the wind I can hear

Quiet footsteps ahead

 louder footsteps behind

Their sound fast approaching

 to reclaim and remind

The years stay unpromised

 except for the end

Each step left unwalked

 trailing closer—portends

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

The Words

The eyes of a poet

The heart of a warrior

The soul of a prophet

 —but the words of a man

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)

The Ashes Of Sin

A man must be measured

  to call himself such

Each storm must be weathered

  its helmsman so clutch

Fire must be extinguished

  for growth to begin

The seeds of new virtue

  —from the ashes of sin

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)

The Walker

One foot in front of the other…

  that’s usually enough

One thought no longer indentured

  captive or rebuffed

One heart in search of love

  a new life to begin

One verse free and uncensored

   —your legacy to sing

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2015)