Not I (+3)

If reality is meant to change,

Buddhists may be right

The stops and starts of wasted dreams,

to bury in the night

With truth in self-denial,

our awareness springs and grows

The burdens of all conscious thought,

released—once letting go

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

Whole Punched

Imperfection keeps me fertile,

like the storm upon the plain

Measuring the distance,

of what’s lost and sometimes gained

With my thoughts I mark the hours,

left uncounted looking back

The choices made and prices paid

—endorsing what I lack

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

The Enemy Within

If conflict is human,

is violence a game

The law of the jungle

by some other name

A mortal endeavor,

to choose when we fight

With nature in judgment

—the wrong from the right

(Wayne Pennsylvania: August, 2020)

By Any Other Name...

A watch is forever subservient

to time

As each day bows down

to the sun

Remeasuring infinity

from end to end

Orphaned between

—and left to beguile

(Villanova University: August, 2020)