Déjà Vu, My Son

Long ago, too far back for me 
To know when for sure, I think 
Your grandfather—who was old 
Enough to be my grandfather— 
Said something to me like 

You’ll know how far you’ve come 
Only if you keep your eye 
On where you came from— 

So what do you make of that? 
Ten years younger than my father was 
When he left this life, here I am now 
Looking to see how much 
We’ve left behind and how far 
Both of us have come. 

Inscrutable Procrastinating Pedestrian Vicious Circle

Much younger, 

You were always 
Asking what 
To do next 
With yourself 

To stave off 
The haunting 
Feeling of wasting 
Precious time,

And never received
An answer that did not 
Generate another time- 
Worn question—so good so far 
And so full of youthful wit but this 

Time around, when 
Obituaries and life 
Celebrations 
Of close friends 
And relatives keep 

After you wherever 
You turn, what do you think 
The next question is 
Going to be 
Making the rounds? 

Time to go helter-skelter 
Back to square one 
While you still have enough 
Time and your threadbare wits all 
In one piece about you—

Who knows? You just might 
Make it this time around.

Muse On A Poem Relatively Speaking

Just 

Between the two 
Of us, it all comes 

Down to this one thing— 
No matter how or what 

You have to say, 
If you don’t 

Come clean with yourself 
From the beginning, 

In the end don’t 
Be surprised to find 

You mean absolutely 
Nothing to me. 

Devil's Advocate

Well, I’ll tell you this 
Much has to be 
Said before we can 
Even begin 
To explore the depths 

Of our depravity— 
For a starter, let’s ask 
Ourselves just how 
Strong the rope is 
That’s taking us down. 

Muse On A Deathless Grecian Memento

Not hard enough 
And clearly not 

Indestructible this 
Heart you burnt 

To its foundations 
And then ground 

To ashes—give it back 
To me resurrected 

Forever in an urn.