terror

maybe

our lives are just

too predictable

to appreciate

 a world where someone

would strap explosives

around their waists

to kill people so randomly

we’re told

that if we change our routines

then

they have won

how simplistically we believe

and go about our business

feeling powerless to do more

than make a fleeting offering

of thoughts and prayers

flag lightshows on our landmarks

candlelight vigils

bouquets, poems and tears on sidewalks

maybe

going about our daily lives

is just what they want because

then

they know

we will be too busy

too occupied

to stop them…

Barry DeCarli

March 23, 2016

On Hammond Pond

©Barry DeCarli

Draft #3

Photo from www.telegraph.uk

pareidolia

the face of Christ on a piece of toast
some plaster in Pittsburgh

 a pancake at the Cowgirl Cafe

on the Shroud of Turin

 looking as much like Charles Manson

or Che Guevara
as Jesus

Mother Mary appearing

 between hospital window panes
near Boston

 or a on a tree trunk

in Iowa

 religious Rorschachs 

only perceived by some

ridiculed by others

with a clearer vision

or none at all

camera ready

a few search for a sign

look for hope
in a bowl of corn flakes

most laugh at the phenomenon

this prophecy
 whose medium might be mold,
misty moisture or
burned bread

but others
not blinded
by impossibility
might see a miracle
dancing in their heads

Barry DeCarli

March 11, 2016

On Hammond Pond

©Barry DeCarli

Draft #11