Papa said ...
“Sentimental
people are cruel”
trading what might be
for what is

Filling their plates
with what’s not
on the menu
longing for soda
without fizz

Papa wrote
distant
always bringing it close
while leaving the weak
to surmise

With feeling
embodied
in hardscrabble words
to challenge but death
— so implied

(Gertrude Stein Remembers: August, 2025)

Do you like
knowing
or the idea
of knowledge
The pretense
of perception
or a wellspring
sublime

Political
correctness
or the search
for a moonbeam
Relighting
your way
as you glow
— in its shine

(The New Room: August, 2025)

Not living
longer
but dying
slower
The chemo
dripping
death’s shadow
appears

Each moment
fringed
with a joy
ill censored
The countdown
has started
whose bell
— is near

(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)

Live long enough
and we end up alone
No matter our fortune
no matter our throne

Life will have sway
as our journey unwinds
One breath at a time
— our voices unrhymed

(Augustinian Seminary: July, 2025)

Science
has brought
us closer
to the edge of our oblivion
Nuclear fission
angel dust
processed foods
and smog
Two steps forward
ten steps back
ennobling every ***** fact
as children choke and cry
There’s one award
the Swede’s leave out
that’s missing
on their dais
The Nobel Prize
for mass destruction
as progress masquerades
— unchecked

(Sweden: May, 2008)

The pathway to hell
paved with good intentions
— and unwritten words

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)

Reconciling
life’s ledger
hoping
it’s in black

Every deed
and every need
accountable
in fact

Debits
fighting credits
to balance
in the end

The gist of life
through joy and strife
where numbers
— will portend

(Dreamsleep: July, 2025)