Our Birthright (+2)

A proprietary hold on God,

religion does proclaim

Defining what we know inside

our souls will they reclaim

The Cross or Torah, Buddhist lore

each ritual decries

What can’t be owned or scripted pure

through centuries of lies

Divinity a birthright deigned

for those who search to find

What God embeds in every soul

—that structure can’t define

(The New Room: May, 2022)

Life Unbound

Waiting for life to come to me,

the clock ticked down to one

With barely but a second left,

my tendency to run

With nothing left but one last tick,

all motion seemed to stop

Perspective changed, then rearranged,

a lifetime on the spot

My eyes won’t blink, the fear too great,

of staying closed for good

As from a distant galaxy,

I finally understood

All life had boiled down to this,

eternity defined

When everything that ever was,

together crossed my mind

I left the past and future mired,

to breed and then deceive

And took this present life unbound

—unto my soul reprieved

(The New Room: May, 2022)

Home

At nineteen

I wanted to live in Colorado

Till that first weekend I spent

in Cheyenne

At twenty-five

I wanted to live in Montana

Leaving Yellowstone

as Glacier took my hand

At thirty

I wanted to live in Alaska

Within Denali

where the Kodiaks roam

But as the years have progressed

I discovered

All I ever wanted to be

—was home

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)