The Verdict

In the judgment of ghosts

my hope is retried

Forgiven or not

their will to decide

To ever move on

or be damned here to stay

To wander my failings

mistakes on display

They fly through my present

back into my past

Not missing a nuance

of slippage I’ve cast

Returning my sentence

their jury unhung

Pronouncing the verdict

— my fate zero sum

********

Memory Lingers

Impropriety

the soul of wit

Audacity

its memory lingers

Incongruity

the leak that drips

Banality

— its bee unstingered

*******

God’s Nation

At the country’s

bicentennial

I came

of age

A hard bitten

patriot

and liberty

sage

Two hundred

years won

through blood

will and pain

To shine

in the glory

 God’s nation

— ordained

************

The Ivory Tower

Did you hear

your favorite student

when he spoke

his truth to power

Or when he challenged

what you said

high up

the ivory tower

Do you miss him now

that he has gone

into a world

unclaimed

And free of what

your words did spew

in pander

— false proclaimed

**********

Gears Enmesh

You can sulk

and brood

with Achilles heel

to sit detached in place

Or live in neutral

disengaged

to stay outside

the race

But one free choice

can change all that

to track uncovered

ground

When gears enmesh

to set you free

and turn your world

— around

(The New Room: June, 2026)