At times I felt so lost
My sadness deep as sin
Overcome by emptiness
My need, was ravaged from within

It took almost, my whole life
To discover what was wrong
So much in life was offered me
But I just needed, to belong
BOEMS BY JA 493

Poetry, is not just
The rhyming of some words
It’s expression of a feeling
Which a heart shepherds

A rhapsody of heart and thought
Immersed in joyful bliss
Or dashed upon those rocks
Of agony’s abyss  

Pictures made of words
Painted by a quill
Words that dance and twirl
At the penman’s will

The fusion of a thought
With the gift of soul
Emotions that are freed
Without any control

The sorrow of a heart ache
Set in rhythmic prose
The rhythm of true love
Which two hearts compose

Visions sketched in words
For everyone to see
Desires and their dreams
In hopes that they will be

The harmony of lyrics
A mind and heart have spawned
Set, in melodies of verse
To which, we all respond
BOEMS BY JA 413

In the beginning
There was no form
No light, no image you could see
Just a vast, empty void
A darkness filled, abyss
This immense, aphotic sea
Then from the depths, a crack appeared
And light came bursting thru
The sun explodes, its streaming rays
To warm our earth anew
Awakens all, these wondrous gifts
Existing on our planet
Just like I, aroused in you
The need, to read this Sonnet
BOEMS BY JA 268

The snow is gone
The sun’s come out
The grass is green
The flowers sprout

The birds all sing
The air turns fresh
The wraps come off
We show some flesh

So crack a smile
Or scream and shout
That’s what spring
Is all about
BOEMS BY JA 265

FOR MY FRIEND CHARLIE

Why am I here… in this place… this room; sitting on this bed
What is this berth… how did I get here; shouldn’t I be home instead
That’s my hat upon my case, and it seems full… of what I wonder
Not my clothes I’ll bet… just filled with more confusion, I should ponder

The door is open… I could leave if I so choose; but do I dare
What am I sitting here for… to see someone; should I really care
I feel so old and tired… how did I become so old; and with this pain
Not just my body… but inside my head… my thoughts; am I insane

How can thoughts hurt… how can they instill this agony I feel
Is this where I should be; am I asleep… dreaming… is this real
I need to think… am I lost in some maze… have I tried to leave
Why can I not get up; just sadly clasp, my eyeglass case and grieve

Why this feeling of regret… do I lament something I have done
Why this sadness in my heart… is there nothing… is there no one
Am I alone… desolate; emptied of all my feelings… emotionless
Should I be sensing fear… rage… no, I yearn for life’s caress

Does someone love me… care about me… do I have a friend
Family… I must have someone… who would to me, his hand extend
Yet I sit alone… why… move… get up; go see beyond that open door
But no… not a sound do I hear… it’s never been, like this before

Why do I clench this eyeglass case; is there something there I treasure
Ah yes... the cross… from my wife’s rosary; it’s glued inside, for good measure
I have a wife… no… she died remember; that’s why the cross I glued in place
That’s why I hold it all the while; so each time I look at Jesus, I can see her face

I hold it like those kids their cell phones; in their hand, always at the ready
Kids…I have children… yes, I do; where are they, shouldn’t they be here already
No... they stopped coming… remember; they came at first… they come no more
I became… decrepit… tiresome… needy; to them, I became another… chore

…shush…someone’s coming………..

…. “HI DAD, HOW ARE YOU”

???Hello… should I know you…???
BOEMS BY JA 533    
I must thank my wife for asking me, if I could write this piece.

It’s hard, to express in words
Exactly what we’re feeling
That’s why God
Made poets, so appealing
WIZDUMBs BY JA 640

Now that Easter
Is in the offing
I’ll be searching for
What that bunny’s dropping

In nooks and crannies
He will hide
Those Easter eggs
All nicely dyed

I’ll look around
And try to find
Those eggs that are
Of a chocolate kind

For those dyed eggs
Are not for me
Cause they will stink
Eventually

I don’t search
For them no more
Cause they’re not stamped
Use best before

Those cream filled ones
Are what I seek
So when I crack them
They won’t reek
BOEMS BY JA 36

we shall not leave this world alive
as we’ll discover at the end of our life

yet even though we know all that
we still cannot imagine being not

it seems we live in times
when helping hands extend only reluctantly
to those in dire need who had to leave
     the ruins of their devastated homes
     not waiting for more bombs to fall
to those who had to save their lives
     from the barbaric rule of self-styled prophets
and those whose simple love of education
     was met with inane terror and oppression

why is it that so many people
     are afraid of them and think
     these desperate refugees are perpetrators
          not the victims

why is it that the nations most responsible
      for chaos and destruction in these countries
           far from their own safe shores
      are the least willing to accommodate
      those they have driven from their homes

good Samaritans have become scarce
only a few today share their possessions
     with those who are in greater need

our humanity has been outsourced
to NGOs and sundry other institutions
to whom we donate so they feed
the hungry   poor   and the displaced

it makes one wonder whether shameless greed
has indeed  
    and without any saving grace
become the only goal of our race