The Garden Burning (+2)

Long before the clocks ticked,

the garden was burning

The law had been laid down,

   only the animals ran free

Long before the clocks ticked,

two lovers were yearning

The power, the struggle

—the lust to deceive

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Changed Into Song

Will the pieces of the life you’ve lived

come together at the end

Will the times that you reflected

straighten your path out, free of bends

Are the places that you visited

more than way stops that you chose

Are the feelings that you left with

still inside you—heaven knows

Are your children still in contact,

do they ask you what you think

Are your parents now forgotten

as you pour yourself a drink

Are the days now counted backwards

with the best all left behind

Does the silence serve to haunt you

with those things you cannot find

Does the laughter fall on deafness,

do the smiles pass you by

Are your friends now off your guest list

with no time then left to find

Are the pieces of your puzzle

pointed sharp, and ill to fit

Does your conscience wear a muzzle

with the blame an endless pit

Is it what you said you wanted

when you started down this path

Or are you now among the hunted

in a bad choice aftermath

If before you’re gone, one chance flew by

a difference then to make

Would you hang on tight to all the lies,

or embrace this change of fate

And if you do, the words will say,

you almost got it wrong

Before you called those choices back

—and changed them into song

(Grantham New Hampshire: March, 2015)

Forgotten Lord

Deep into the night of the harrowing dawn,

old voices went astray

And fast on the morning of no return,

final judgment came to stay

Crashing like a wave was the prophet’s voice,

this time not to be ignored

Washing away all excuse and false remorse

with damnation

     —forgotten Lord

(Grantham New Hampshire: March, 2015)