mourning

maybe when someone dies

a new black hole opens

somewhere

in the universe

a place where the soul

can find respite in its great journey forward

beyond our understanding

out of sight of our grief

leaving behind the sounds of our sorrow

but what of our private tears

the sorrow  we do not share

at an afternoon vigil

or at a grave site

as we mourn strangers

as those we knew

what of the sobs no one hears

who can fathom their meaning

does a black hole open

to accept those too

Barry DeCarli

January 27, 2012

On Hammond Pond

Copyright 2012 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

so close

how far is a stranger

from the center of your soul

the width of the universe

the depth of an ocean

or just the distance between two people

caught in a glance

how close is a friend

if they cross paths

can they know

will they wonder

will they miss that soul-meeting moment

and stay separate

worlds apart

without ever knowing

how close they were…

Barry DeCarli

November 22, 2015

On an Aer Lingus flight from Milan to Dublin

Draft #2

©2015 Barry DeCarli

rifugiati

ma per le lacrime

un bambino può piangere

la sua infanzia è stata rubata da lui

scartato sui binari

un straccio insanguinato lasciato alle spalle

un altro passato prosciugando

che soffia attraverso i traversine ferroviarie

scorpioni danzano sopradi raffreddamento pietre grigie

Egli li guarda venire se fossero giocattoli

egli non può avere

Gli occhi scuri di sua madre detengono

l'idea di casa

per illuminare il percorso di domain

attraverso le ombre scure e crudele

ma come il filo spinato taglia profondamente

terrore indebolisce la sua speranza

lei non si lascia andare la mano di suo figlio

Barry DeCarli

25 Settembre 2015

Su Hammond Pond

© 2015 Barry DeCarli

Draft # 2- translation with much help from Google Translate

http://barrydecarli.blogspot.com/

refugees

but for the tears

a small boy may shed

his childhood has been torn from him

discarded on the tracks

a bloodied rag left behind

another past drying up

blowing across the oiled ties

scorpions dance over the cooling grey stones

he watches as if they are toys

he can not have

his mother’s dark eyes hold

the idea of home

to light the path ahead

through the dark cruel shadows

even as the razor wire slices deep

as terror tempers her hope

she does not let go of his hand

Barry DeCarli

September 25, 2015

On Hammond Pond

©2015 Barry DeCarli

Draft #2

lost message

the scarcity of time becomes

too much to waste.

still the pain lasts

and grows

as cells turn too brittle

too emaciated to hold a good memory.

no wonder we miss the sign

pulsing against our eyelids.

the message we won’t accept

takes too much time to get through:

some forgetful god is unable to shape an answer other than

no.

Barry DeCarli

May 19, 2010 & September 18, 2015

On Hammond Pond

©2015 Barry DeCarli

unpublished

so many poets

many more unread words

in notebooks

Word documents

on printer paper

who would read

a loose stack

of papers

hardly cohesive

a spineless unbound pile

unglued pages

some caught under

a weight of polished marble

corners blowing

clicking like playing cards

clothes-pinned to metal bike spokes

then luffing in the window’s breeze

who would tighten phrases

shuffle papers

fold them into a manuscript

a volume of verse

seventy poems perfectly bound

placed on a bookstore shelf

title on the spine

to wait for buyers and

readers uncommon

Barry DeCarli

August 27-28, 2015

On Hammond Pond, Goshen MA

©2015 Barry DeCarli

Draft #2