WHAT HIGH CASTLES?

what high castles may compare
at all to which man’s mind doth strive
when set in scapes of summer’s fair
and that which nature can devise.

Blasphemy

what redeeming hope have we
when measured is our blasphemy
more by sainted words to heed
than on the mercy of our deeds

Time

each day a debt
to future hours
that hopes of ours implore
for those gone by
we’ve paid in full
and lost forevermore

The Corinthian Cynic

through Doric streets
his lamp in hand
to cast a light
on the honest man
that e’en Apollo
in his godly state
could not on earth
illuminate.

The Domains Between Breaths

dare we credit this domain
that we own just for a breath
for if such sighs have no refrain
then slip we into endless death

Et Mihi Cedet Amor

does the poet yield to love
as Virgil would attest
or can love be held
to the minstrel’s whim
by those who know it best?

To A Martyr

what former truths do we condemn
in tasting lies from lesser men
as worldly tongues no wit impart
if they be divorced from their hearts,
for men of envy, false and guile
hold darkest sin behind their smiles,
thus is duty for our honest souls
the heart’s convictions to behold.

Expression

dwell not upon the virgin thought
in its birth of innocence
first allow it time to court
the value of experience
a newborn dream in infancy
denies the world it does not know
and should not in the world be free
before it’s had the chance to grow.

dualitas

what are errant reveries
amoral curses to be denied
or should such black desires
within our better selves reside
it matters not
for in all schemes
light and dark
make up our dreams.

What’s Left of Sorrow (an Epigram)

the rest from all our sorrows
are held apart for joy’s refrain
though dark tonight, will turn tomorrow
into the light of dawn again