Final Wish (+4)

Longer than forever

 much deeper than today

My heart to pass between

 —love’s final wish to pray

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2018)

A Warrior's Chant

Wrapping letters around

  the conflict

The war played out

  with words

The fury of shouted

  diction

Slaying enemies still

  unheard

Shooting vision

  into the onslaught

Attacking the silence

  as legion’s advance

Loading insight into

  the canons

Killing the emptiness

 —with a warrior’s chant

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Reborn

Is life about how many

  or then about how much

Is the truth in computation

  or in what those numbers touch

Is the measurement empiric

  with a final answer shown

Is salvation in the lyrics

  with the word count still unknown

Is there faith inside the mystery

  that mere reason can’t abide

Is there something deep inside you

  that excuses cannot hide

Is there a wind that blows indulgent

  carrying an echo from before

With a voice that speaks the loudest

  the one you listen to—reborn

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Gabriel Calls

My heart belongs to providence,

   as I walk that final mile

My footsteps bought and paid for,

  as I clear the last denial

My faith is bold and steadfast,

  as new rain begins to fall

Through the fog a horn is blowing

  the gate now open—Gabriel calls

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)  

Life's Epilogue

Crossing over,

  I thought it’d be different

Crossing over,

  I thought things would change

Crossing over,

  I thought I’d be better

Crossing over,

  I fought through the rain

Now looking back,

  I see demurely

Now looking back,

  I see through the fog

Now looking back,

  I see more clearly

Now looking back

  —through life’s epilogue

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)