In Constancy Redeemed (+13)

Colors overtake me one by one,

 as they fuse within my mind

 

To paint their ancient messages,

 prismatic and sublime

 

The past is but enigma,

 tomorrow still a dream

 

This moment’s image all that lasts

 —in constancy redeemed

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

 

 

Time Unfolds

 

In my heart I knew little of

 the world and all its parts

 

As I drifted idle and wandered blind,

 through constant fits and starts

 

My mind reached out beyond its grasp,

 with the questions close behind

 

As time unfolded upon itself

 —each moment to define

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2019)

 

 

 

First Cut

 

Knowing, 

  not repeating

 

The weakness

  of all refrain

 

A first cut,

  true and deepest

 

Once healed

  —its scar remains

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

File Or Burn

 

Seeing better from a distance,

  than you ever could up close

 

The memories play like children,

   in voices that you spoke

 

The truth is where you find it,

   every season, every turn

 

Where space becomes entitled

  —your soul to file or to burn

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

False Reflection

 

 Stop trying to be a poet,

  and say what you feel

 

Kill off the dilettante,

  both hands on the wheel

 

In front of the mirror,

  we all wear a crown

 

Will your verses be written

  —by a sage or a clown

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)  

 

 

Nature In Play

 

The Russians have taught me

  that nothing has changed

 

Instead of Nazis and Fascists,

  we have terrorists to blame

 

Whether Turgenev or Chekhov,

  Tolstoy or Marx

 

When our nature’s in play

  —much of life remains dark

 

(Wayne Pa.-Minella’s Diner: June, 2016)

 

 

Fallen Blooms

 

Children,

  conceived in perfection

 

Are born

  to disappoint

 

As reality

  delivers

 

Hopes and wishes

  —disjoint

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

The Devil's Chalice

 

My cup runneth over,

  your chalice half full

 

The emptiness suspect,

  both murky and dull

 

It shines on the outside,

  jewels christened with fire

 

But to drink from that potion

  —forever a liar

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

A Vow To Myself

 

I asked for your blessing,

  instead you explained

 

What I should be paying

  to garner acclaim

 

You told me if only

  I’d do it this way

 

My words could have meaning

  and influence—sway

 

But power and fortune

  are not what I sought

 

If influence only

  gets brokered and bought

 

So the blessing passed over,

  no bribery done

 

A last vow to myself

  —from you I must run

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

Magnificent Silence

 

Not to argue about Poetry

  or justify Prose

 

Not to discuss their many virtues

   or interpretive flows

 

I choose to remain quiet,

  and let the words carry on

 

Where in magnificent silence

  —they turn into song

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

Its Reckoning Comes

 

Is God to interpret,

  and religion the why

 

Is forever too heavy

  to pledge bye and bye

 

Does the Devil provide balance

  to a concept in stone

 

Is he laughing inside us,

  mocking all that we know

 

Is the Lord left to children

   and those purest of heart

 

Is all truth chained to symbols,

  has its lock come apart

 

Are the years there to change us,

  is each day meant to count

 

Are the scriptures worth hearing,

  if belief has to shout

 

To those fanatics among us,

   yes, you know who you are

 

A power looms distant,

  beyond testament’s scar

 

Its claim staked by no one,

  its icon’s unseen

 

And its reckoning comes

  —when you wake from this dream

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

Remembered In Time

 

Writing in meter, ending in rhyme,

  the journey became clear

   —destination in mind

 

Writing in meter, ending in rhyme,

  my words tunneled inward

   —their meaning sublime

 

Writing in meter, ending in rhyme,

  free of the ramble

   —heartbeat aligned

 

 Writing in meter, ending in rhyme,

   the feeling immortal

    —remembered in time

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

Unbaptized Words

 

Certificate unsigned,

  pen firmly in hand

 

The bliss not for barter,

  its insight free-stands

 

Faith and acceptance

  may go where they please

 

To my grave and beyond,

  the verse teaches and frees

 

No savior I ask for,

  forgiveness I shun

 

Redemption for others,

  new ink on the run

 

Till one day uncovered,

  hidden deep on the shelf

 

A message unchristened,

   buried dark and unfelt

 

Where the voice I was gifted,

  and the music I heard

 

In themselves live forever

  —free unbaptized words

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

 

 

 

Casting Shame

 

By darkness I trolled

  in my oft-shedding skin

 

Hidden alleys I roamed

  for new victims at whim

 

But at last I must face

  the deception I’ve wrought

 

And repay every memory

  that festers and rots

 

As my twisted rebellion

  turns its anger within

 

No forgive or forgetting

  or my blaming the gin

 

In the few moments left

  as I slither and weave

 

Still bearing false witness

  against those I’ve deceived

 

My venom gets swallowed

  death final and small

 

With the light I once blocked

  —casting shame on it all

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)