One Last Choice (+9)

When the world becomes heavy,

take it inside

 

When the waves breach the levee,

take it inside

 

When she just won’t stop asking,

take it inside

 

When a friend is unmasking,

take it inside

 

When the children have gone,

take it inside

 

When the bad guys have won,

take it inside

 

When the armies advance,

take it inside

 

When you haven’t a chance,

take it inside

 

When night lays unclaimed,

take it inside

 

When excuses are blamed,

take it inside

 

When the money’s all spent,

take it inside

 

When your emotion’s been lent,

take it inside

 

 When the mime begins talking,

take it inside

 

When the end comes back knocking,

take it inside

 

When the music plays hollow,

take it inside

 

When the Angels build lean-to’s,

take it inside

 

When the berries have been picked,

take it inside

 

When the Pope throws a fit,

take it inside

 

When the words just won’t come,

take it inside

 

When the choice zero-sum,

take it inside

 

   “Inside there’s a fortress,

  with ramparts of light

 

   “One choice beyond choosing,

   —one vision beyond sight”

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

Giving & Taking

 

You flew in on a

wish

 

And left on a broken

dream

 

Bringing what I never

wanted

 

Taking what I never

had

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

Given & Heard

 

 Having too much respect

for the language

 

Trying never to get cute

with the words

 

Being too much in debt

to the feelings

 

Writing only what was given

—and heard

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

The End Begins

 

Dying in anticipation,

the morning never came

 

Rising out of sublimation

—the end begins again

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

The Well Runs Dry

 

If we let them in,

serendipity drops

 

If we keep them out,

our heritage stops

 

With open arms,

to deal from the heart

 

Or dreams are crushed,

—and cast in the dark

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

Will It Sing

 

Every poem I write,

my heart dreams of a song

 

A composer to finish,

so these lyrics belong

 

If I can’t breathe in and sing,

as it calls out my name

 

The lines stay on the paper

—feelings never the same

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

 

The End In Sight

 

Do you avoid the give and take,

are you afraid to cut the cake

 

With hope now gone, one wish is left,

the present strong—all else bereft

 

Are you afraid of yes and no,

to middle ground do you still go

 

The mountaintop calls out your name,

excuses haunt your stock and trade

 

With time undone and glass half poured,

your cup still empties, false reward

 

The end in sight, horizon plain,

one last choice calls—your soul to gain

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

All Escape Disowned

 

Did you dodge the bullet,

but not its intent

 

Is the ocean now calm,

as the storm reinvents

 

Have feelings rehardened,

with blood on the stone

 

Back to back with yourself,

—all escape you’ve disowned

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

Passion Like Tinder

 

Are we better than we need to be,

where does the overage go

 

Does it store and recycle, to be on call,

or is it something that nobody knows

 

In our quest for perfection, humanity cries,

as passion like tinder is thrown

 

Flames circling the bed where we dream through the night

—burning everything into unknown

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)

 

 

Remorseful I Grieve

 

I was there for the sweet spots,

you for all other times

 

I basked in its glory,

while your sun cast the shine

 

I avoided attachment,

as you rooted our tree

 

And in sorrowful guilt

—remorseful I grieve

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)