unsaid

parts of life
exist in the shadow
of truth
of openness
there in the fog of evening
a small secret lies
an undaring preclusion
concealed beneath the camouflage
of mist
the cloud of sorrow
the froth of promise

unrepeated stories
untold hopes and dreams
fleeing memory
atrophied
lost in the reluctance
to ration more than a hint

parts of life dying off
each melancholic year
dreams unable to find a future
in the unspoken folly
and memories unable to lift themselves
out of the past

this untelling of past lives
suppresses the need to share
that lingers like sweat
cooling on the surface of silence

Barry DeCarli
August 11,12, & 14, 2016
On Hammond Pond

©Barry DeCarli

unfinished

this mosaic gives us history

even the pieces unfitted

obscuring the margins

will find their

place

this tapestry razored

and assembled

then shuffled and boxed

bought, brought home and spread out

across a table

the answers still hidden

how much time

to piece a life

back

together

to match the edges

of pain

with those of joy

how to balance all meaning

from fact and lie

with hopes and dreams

the weight of memories

what to do with the pieces

that

  just

won’t

   fit

Barry DeCarli

Began in 2010, Ferrisburgh, VT

“finished” December 22, 2014

well, finished again December 18, 2015

On Hammond Pond, Goshen, MA