Short Unpromised Poems

One moment, a hint of love
The next, abruptly shoved

Hands over heart: Pray
Unpromised is the day

Yet when sure is certain
by Noonday's light --
  
Shadows stalk dark alleyways
  ~ Pray, slip away...

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Gate to adventures 
Portal to foreign lands,
That mystical caress 
The calm of sunset
And the flame of brilliance,
Stare not for too long,
Unless you give into a trans,
And live your life
Chasing unpromised beauty....

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I’ve not forgotten you,
but I can’t remember love
as moments went unpromised,
 hours lost to wasted years
The future hiding one last spark,
 memories yet to burn 
that Fall we spent in lust’s inferno
—dancing in the flames


(Dreamsleep: March, 2021)...

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Sometimes,
in the shadows
of the early morning light

Resting in the 
shade,
awaiting the beginning

And hiding
from the end
of all that’s unpromised

I watch
the questions disguise themselves 
as often answered

And tuck
new whispers soft within, 
—a certain change

(Chicago Illinois: July, 1977)...

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Sometimes,
  in the shadows
  of the early morning light

Resting in the 
  shade,
  awaiting the beginning
?
And hiding
  from the end
  of all that’s unpromised

I watch
  the questions disguise themselves 
  as often answered

And tuck
  new whispers soft within, 
  —a certain change

(Chicago Illinois: July, 1977)...

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Where would we be
without the bomb
Was Einstein a savior
or devil aplomb
Our power the fire
all enemies dread
Till stealing its physics  
unmaking our bed

The world on the edge
of a looming abyss
Missiles entombing
a terrorist wish
Tomorrow unpromised
all time day to day
Eternity waiting
—forever to blame

(Saint David’s Pennsylvania: May, 2022)...

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Nocturnal flower
In need of sleep
Your petals wilt
The count for sheep

New dawn unpromised
The die is cast
A croupier blocking
Sun’s setting mask

Through endless courtship
Dreams on the run
A jester whispers
Till sleep has come

The meadow sparse 
Its reaper gone
New light unspoken
  —your buds in song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)...

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Nocturnal flower
In need of sleep
Your petals wilt
The count for sheep

New dawn unpromised
The die is cast
A croupier wearing
Sun’s setting mask

Through endless courtship
Faith on the run
A Jester whispers
“Your dreams have come”

The meadow waiting 
Its reaper gone
New light unspoken
  —your buds in song

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)...

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The livery on fire
  its horses set free

Misery beckons
  the future to bleed

The gates are broke open
  all streets painted red

Death has awakened
  life dragged from its bed

One bugle is left
  blowing perdition’s melee

All swords are unsheathed,
  terror sharpens dismay

Tomorrow unpromised
  today but a curse

The monster has cometh
  —a hell upon earth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)...

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The livery on fire,
  its horses set free

Misery beckons,
  the future to bleed

The gates are broke open,
  all streets painted red

Death has awakened,
  life dragged from its bed

One bugle is left,
  blowing perdition’s melee

All swords are unsheathed,
  terror sharpens dismay

Tomorrow unpromised,
  today but a curse

The monster has cometh
   —a hell upon earth

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)...

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A father ails, a son's lover's lament
Steel rudders committed, what hues to lament.

No courage, the lover feels not what to speak
A channel untuned to the feast of lament.

Tradesmen and saints, what heed they at all?
The father feigns slumber, a weak heart's lament.

The lover replaced, made a crater unwhole
His plea unreturned, an unpromised lament.

One tender father, one lover's fair bones
Their son and companion, shared in lament....

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Those footsteps ahead
  are now footsteps behind

The past but a memory
  the future declines

My cadence is slowing
  my direction unclear

When frozen in place
  on the wind I can hear

Quiet footsteps ahead
  louder footsteps behind

Their sound fast approaching
  to reclaim and remind

The years stay unpromised
  except for the end

Each step left unwalked
  trailing closer—portends

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)...

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The day now split
  drifts off unpromised,
  the dream remains with me

Our words as jewels 
  now treasured pawn,
  their tickets burning free

The nights by measure
  mornings fled,
  those times you woke and lied

My heart remains
  my own to wed,
  your wound still deep inside

From spells you cast
   upon our gift, 
  and quarried into stone

The past is black,
  the future gone,
  —this present mine to own

(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2017)...

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