Sound Bites 1-31-2026

First Things First

 

Keep your words close

— but your feelings closer

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

From Afar ...

 

Absence severs

as well as death

With haunted longing

— and deep regret

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

 

Beyond Sound

 

A canon fire’s

a man is deafened

 

Trapped in memory

— the music plays

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

Until Light

 

Everywhere

there’s shadows

the trick

is to outrun them

 

They’re sure to place

their dark embrace

till light receives

— its summons

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

Cowboy Up

 

Atop the bull

eight-seconds loom

The crowd and lights

go silent

 

The chute is opened

his eyes enraged

all life

— within this moment

 

(PBR Finals: Las Vegas: October, 2025)

 

 

The Sweetest Light

 

Make no contract

with time

It heeds

no ethic

 

Born in chains

to die

its shackled lock

defies

 

The truth alone

wears well

when stating its

dependence

 

Life looking

poorest

when it teases from

the richest state

 

The blamer finds

the greatest fault

with paradise

approaching

 

Life near the bone

the sweetest light

that hides

— within the dark

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

 

The Reset

 

To learn

is not to know

To listen

not to hear

To look

is not to see

To touch

is not to feel

 

To wish

is not to hope

To hunger

not to yearn

To speak

is not to say

To like

— is not to love

 

(The First Book Of Prayers: January, 2026)

 

 

 

My Legacy

 

The child

of my

captivity

 

The heir

to my

dissent

 

A legacy

of stone

and bars

 

That will’s

my life’s

— portent

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

 

 

One Day Soon

 

Each day without

disaster

a blessing on

the shelf

 

The fated winds

now still and calm

with gentle breezes

felt

 

But one day soon

it reckons

to prey upon

your soul

 

As fortune turns

against the tide

to tally

— nature’s toll

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

 

 

The Glory

 

The shadow of truth

is vast

The glimmer of hope

sublime

The future of life

is death

The glory of fate

— divine

 

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)