Just One (+2)

Trying to write a lyric

my words reduce to verse

The euphony escaping me

adrift as I converse

Though joy is sorely tempered

these letters soldier on

In hope of just one melody

—in hope of just one song

(Bryn Mawr College: September, 2023)

Madonna's Last Hymn

I’m on my fourth lifeline

how about you

The first three pre-owned

the current one new

This one seems fleeting

which gives me concern

My freezer is empty

no steaks left to burn

The first one was blissful

the second had pain

The third one reflective

but this fourth one again….

I try to hold on

and describe it at will

Exceeding my grasp

it alludes me and still…

I wouldn’t go back

to either one, two, or three

The things I see now

ripened fruit on my tree

If this is the end

and the lights start to dim

I’ll sing the words strongly

Madonna’s last hymn…

“More thankful than troubled

more joyous than sad

“More today than tomorrow

—the past in the past”

(The First Book Of Prayers: February, 2018)

New Reasons

The older the day
  the sweeter the memory

The sweeter the memory
  new reasons to find

New reasons to find
  tomorrow unmentioned

Tomorrow unmentioned
—the present Divine

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July, 2018)