Spirit's Behest

Do you demand my lies,

 instead of the truth

 

Do you hem and sigh,

 or stammer uncouth

 

Does the word unfiltered,

 get trapped in your brain

 

Does the message uncovered,

  wash down your drain

 

Does the time spent looking,

 measure time well spent

 

Does the verbal unlocking,

  pay your spiritual rent

 

Are the memories you wished for,

   in the time you invest

 

Are the feelings you hoped for

  —at your spirit’s behest

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

 

 

Will The Present Forget

 

On which side of the authority line

  do you fall…

 

      The pulpit,

      The assembly line,

      The suite down the hall

 

Who makes the decisions,

  do you stand—do you kneel

 

Is it giving or receiving,

 do you take—do you steal

 

How many horizons,

  do your dreams fall behind

 

Are they distant—uncertain,

  not in view to remind

 

Where your memories lie,

  are your promises kept

 

Is the past now your future

  —will the present forget

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016) 

 

 

(Abbreviated)

 

 

Are Promises Kept

 

Where your memories lie,

  are your promises kept

 

Is the past now your future

  —will the present forget

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

 

 

One Kiss

 

Left just one chance

  to gild the night

 

One kiss

  —before you leave

 

        8^th Grade Poetry Contest

St Thomas Of Villanova Grade School

   May, 1962

 

 

 

The Mountainous Roar

 

If consciousness were to exist

 beyond the self

 

What opinions

 might it change

 

Can something exist outside

 its space

 

Can something be something

 it’s not

 

Is time the new slave

 to the master it birthed

 

Can the end

 be started again

 

Can the future or past

 exist on their own

 

Can the present

 be something that’s both

 

Can you believe what the facts

 will disprove or disclaim

 

With reflection beyond logic

 and guilt

 

Can you teach what you’ve learned

 in spite of yourself

 

Can your silence

   —tame the mountainous roar

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)