prayers

the prayers skipped out

lackadaisically

no destination even imagined

a shot in the dark

with no target

person, paper or god

or they traveled

haltingly

no matter their urgency

like the damp whisper of a snail

on a six inch journey across a stone

or at the speed of light

blazing unseen into some dark corner

of the universe

or maybe they just sat nearby

on the sill of a window

closed to time and space

waiting

yet the response

was quick and blunt

like a lightning bolt

to the deadened brain

giving no relief

only numbness

but even not feeling was a better answer

than no

Barry DeCarli

July 9-14, 2017

On South Street

©Barry DeCarli

going through the motions

some of us coast through our days never facing  a major hurdle never learning that big lesson maybe a small epiphany  now and then but but not a revelation  some of us are good with the path  of least resistance  the view from the bleachers  where there are no defining moments few, if any, victory laps still many of us feel little desperation  in our own ordinary knowledge  the bits of experience  we've pieced together the little lessons that built us up or knocked us down some of us have not discovered our own voice yet we find some solace some peace in what we have to say it can take a while to hear the drummer to find the words as we go along all the while knowing that lip-syncing  someone else's song should never be enough... Barry DeCarli May 19, 2017 On South Street, Easthamptom  ©Barry DeCarli

fiber art

could I

too imagine the stars

as I rolled this

fiber form

in the palm

of my hand

more than just

black and white

felt

she imagined

but a small piece

of the night

sky

could she

too imagine

a piece of the universe

our own Earth

for us to hold
close
with both hands

to share
to shelter
to keep safe

Barry DeCarli

May 5, 2017

On South Street

©Barry DeCarli

Inspired by the creations of Yukako Sorai

ring less true

there's more to truth
than just right words,
and so much less
to lies.

yet, a lie
seems the stronger
of the two,

as truth so often dies.
when disbelief

can cloud the eyes,
there's little
we can do,
but hang on to some wispy hope

that the lie will ring less true.


Barry DeCarli
Copyright 2010 Barry DeCarli


 (...and, to keep speaking the truth, loud and clear)

afterwards

scientists say

matter

or energy

cannot be created or destroyed

only conserved

or changed

is there a physics

a chemistry of memory

a weight or worth

to some spiritual commodity

when remembered

but when it’s

when irretrievable

unknown

forgotten by all

is it nothing then

or matter stored for another time

is there more of it

after sharing

can it change in the telling

the turn of the tale

after words

does memory matter

waiting to be retrieved

there in the soil

beneath the stone and grass

Barry DeCarli

September 23, 2016

On Hammond Pond

©Barry DeCarli