The Poet Of Las Vegas Boulevard (+5)

The Poet of Las Vegas Boulevard

  steals emotion from the night

Holding a vigil in the darkness

  waiting for the light

The Poet of Las Vegas Boulevard

  among the screams and homeless cries

Making rhyme of what we’ve long abandoned

   —marking time inside a shadows lie

(Las Vegas Boulevard: January 24, 2016)

Free And Atoned

The truth came flying out of the mirror,

  its reflection veracious and new

And left without warning, my emptiness torn,

  heading back to a place out of view

Driving into my eyes an image so clear,

  its talon’s spread open and honed

But on wings of silver, it returned fulfilled,

  my spirit soaring—free and atoned

(Southwest Flight Las Vegas-Philadelphia: January 27, 2016)

Waiting For The Alarm

Within the tragedy of a broken dream

   rages a fiery lost inferno

Where we burn in fearful anticipation

  —waiting for the alarm to sound

(Las Vegas Nevada: January, 2016)

The Talisman

Persuader inside me

  dark sweetness cajoling

A talisman dangles

 —the present foretold

(Las Vegas Nevada: January, 2016)

From Death Set Me Free

Writing words of forgiveness,

  a bridge from the grave

My ashes unscatter,

  my memories reclaim

A verse of atonement,

  all steps unto thee

Whose vision, my journey

  —from death set me free

(To Mark Phanco-Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2016)

Where Others Have Turned

Is anyone ever a total fraud

  or totally sincere

Is anyone committed beyond mere space

  to a notion fond and dear

Is anyone ever one hundred percent

  with subtraction the rule of the day

Is anyone better than what they believe

  or worse than a mother can pray

Is anyone ever truly in charge

  of that moment that slips through the hand

Is anyone willing to dance beyond hope

  to a melody lost by the band

Is anyone chosen from those who are not

  or entitled to what can’t be earned

Is anyone welcomed straight into the light

   —on a path where all others have turned

(Airplane-Las Vegas To Philadelphia: January, 2016)