The interchange
of reluctance
waiting in the queue

Permission caught
in temporal probate
affirmation skewed

One last chance
unbegotten freedom
living in between

The will to choose
nothing left to lose
— as red lights turn to green

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

When your mind
has roots in poverty
all riches bend and wilt

The fleeting gold
the moment holds
— no more than fading gilt

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

The backside
of tomorrow
The frontside
of today
Every look
retelling
Of what the past
betrays

Caught within
the doldrums
All time fades
in the mist
Until that day
that ends itself
And nothing more
— exists

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

Death ever faithful
in spite of the glee
Holding our place
in wanton reprieve

We ever the cuckold
of life’s dark affairs
As quiet it waits
— a loyal au pair

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)

Where fire’s rage
no flame unfanned
The cinch retightened
no also ran

As horns go silent
the gate is dropped
On victory’s path
his legend cropped

Unbridled passion
distraction flees
A trophy hails
as reins go free

The end in sight
where roses wait
Ablaze in glory
— outrunning fate

(Paris Kentucky: June, 1986)

Like a hailstorm you came uninvited
and blew the Lakota
off sacred land
Religion, cheap liquor
hunger and disease
spread by those at your command
The battles broke every treaty
our food source attacked
and homes set ablaze
But the only thing you can remember
are the lies that you told
— at the foot of our graves

(Lakota Sorrow: December 29, 1890)

When battling
time
the moment
retreats

Oxygen
fades
with light
dimming fast

Wishes
vacant
breath
dark and shallow

Words
once
treasured
— adrift and begone

(Dreamsleep: June, 2024)