by Nolo Segundo

Once we were lions,
fearless…
roaming the world 
at will,
taking what we could,
leaving once sated,
roaring at danger, 
and it was the world
that trembled….

Now we become 
like sheep,
reluctant to the day,
always pulling back
when lions prowl--
because we know now,
we know even lions
must tread the path
to God….

Nolo Segundo, pen name of L.J.Carber, in his 70s, became a published poet in over 120 literary journals/anthologies in 11 countries. (such as Heart of Flesh, Ekstasis, Time of Singing) and 2 trade book collections: The Enormity of Existence [2020] and Of Ether and Earth [2021]. The titles, like much of his work, reflect the awareness he’s had since having an NDE whilst almost drowning in a Vermont river: that he has—is—a consciousness that predates birth and survives death, what poets and other people once called the soul. Nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2022 by Spirit Fire Review, he’s retired from teaching English/ESL in America, Japan, Taiwan and Cambodia (leaving there before the time of the Killing Fields), who has been married 42 years to a smart and beautiful Taiwanese woman.