manifestation

who gets to fill in
the colors
piece together
meld the parts
pick the words
the direction

the masterpiece
of each lifetime
an almost imperceptible
creation
a time-lapse video
not of a flower opening
a bud bursting
a storm brewing

but
of a subtle yet surging manifestation
of the accumulation
of experience
acquaintances
friends and enemies
a quiet collection of circumstance
choices and reactions
a collage of matched
and mismatched mediocrity
and splendor
victories and losses

the addition and subtraction
of joy and pain
drenched and dry
love and hurt
staying and leaving
apology and forgiveness
of multiplication

and then division
the fraction of dreams
the common denominators
of distractions
the few defining moments

a life begins
as a clean slate
a blank canvas
an empty page
dark then light

a cry in a sterile room


Barry DeCarli
October 28, 2016
On Hammond Pond
©Barry DeCarli
Photo credit: Dawn Hudson (publicdomainpictures.net)

building walls

for Steve Byrne

sometimes

we build walls against the hurt

mounting up inside

as we trade our dismissed

worry for anger and pain

even as we try to hold back a flood

of obsession that wells up again and again

we don’t know what

our last act in life might be

or if anyone will understand

what we've left behind

or care

as our anguish grows

we add another block

to another row

until finally

we see nothing

but the wall that holds us in

Barry DeCarli

July 11, 2015

On Hammond Pond, Goshen, MA

©2015 Barry DeCarli