Strong and brave men and women
gave their level best
crème de la crème
strongest and bravest
leaving grieving significant others
with emotional agony
within treasured chest
o'er the redoubt
the enemy did crest,
where lovely bones
of forebears for everest

I fell into a trance
as my cohorts
sang and danced.
Reluctant to acknowledge
my own weakness at a glance.
Within my heart I feel
my pretentions, all too real.
I cannot judge another
I must let my mood congeal.
Let others live and love,
with their own unique appeal!
For all the worlds a podium
speaking only what
we desire to reveal.
A broken sort of game we play
on a playground so surreal!
Our honesty dismembered
because of whom we fear!

Fanning clover blankets my dreams
sleeping heartily
beneath the persistent wax and wane
of an all knowing satellite
whose nightly candlelight vigils
illuminate the secret corners
of forgotten
yet once common knowledge

Moonlit magick leaping
unto the silver pages of wonder
waking once again within me
a fierce and bright inspiration

Incantations bask in a mellow glow
as all eternity
fails to expire before me
here I stand
captive to a heart like gravity

You departed this world,
But were forever in my heart,
Memories of you,
The treasures I cherished until the end of time.

Could you hear me?
When I wept,
I whispered your name on your birthday,
As I played our favorite song,
Curled up on the carpet.

Could you feel my agony?
When I touched your face in our photos,
Or my tears that stained your favorite pillow,
My feet were in your soft pink slippers,
Could you feel my frozen toes?
You used to call them my ten piggies,

Let me be the pillow
To rest your weary head
If you are needing comfort
Then let me be the bed

My arms are the blanket
That will keep you warm
Pull me in closer
Feel safe from a storm

If you should feel tired
And ready to sleep
Put your head on my chest

There is no place in the world
That I would rather be
With arms around my lovely
And she is right on top of me

So that a mighty god from your bosom
Might be dislodged
You forget yourself
In the echoes
Through the walls at night
Houses breathe here
Like their inhabitants
Uneasy and for blissful seconds
Sometimes not at all
Did you hear me when I whispered
You wouldn't be looking for me
If you hadn't found me
a devil disheveled
a worm unearthed
At odds with
Everything he's not
This is what ache looks like
For a home you can never have
Like love you will know

Oh! Let me touch that marble flesh
Luminescent in soft summer's light,
My fingers reach, caress the face
That once did launch a thousand ships.

I cannot breathe,
I gasp for air
As cat like eyes on mine affix;
In eons past men died for this
In times not come they will again.

Locked in the basement of my mind,
I face the demons of my thoughts.
They lurk there in every shadow,
Every gloomy patch, waiting to strike.
Where is the superhero who will free me?
Where is the one who will illuminate
All dark corners and show me the way
To escape the basement of my mind?
Will my hero ever arrive?

You’ve left pieces of your heart around the planet.
Did you know at the start this life would demand it?
Your heart set your course to protect, to defend.
You joined an armed force. They give orders and send
You to places so far from all those you hold dear.
But you do it, because when the need is so clear,
You must go and respond, you must meet duty's call.
So you leave those you love and you stand up tall.
Like a flag, your heart's banner waves all unfurled
O'er the pieces of you left around the whole world.

(route 76) both heading into
(and a small number of hours later
exiting) center city Philadelphia
to Schwenksville on May 19th, 2024.