Ernesto Barca

Ash clouds float
In scattered slants of light,
Like flies in a frozen breach,
Blankets of black cotton pad the ground
...

Gratify not curio nor slant the gaze,
Blot not your sense with stain,
Chin down, eyes forward, stretch the gait,
Of him no thoughts pertain.
...

In threadbare shoes we travel wide,
Aching feet on gravel grind
One, then the other, and over again
Until a flat crossing we find.
...

The cockerel's crow pierces the dawn
Young sun kisses the sky,
Soft moon, in blurry cloud
She melts,
...

With callous stride and steady hoof
Through rock and rubble glide,
By gap and gully your step still sure
With death we don't collide.
...

The sidling sun drags dawn
From its slumber night and hugs the sky,
Around it, wraps its light.
Hushed screams in whispered chanter,
...

From rich to riches they say, and all,
With lofty smiles and petty patter,
From streets afield they bleat the chorus
Acid tongues, through pinched lips swagger,
...

We feel the pain, the anguish of parents
Shielding children,
Many millions,
Who want to play and shout and play and rout
...

What things we learn to do and say
To those whose mouths we must allay,
And those whose minds we seek to know
A lifetime's quest seems now to show
...

You are the fairy dust in a desert storm,
The flashing beacon among sullen stones,
That guides the lost sailor safely home.
...

I wish I had known.
Shackles of gloom a bleak mind drags,
With dreams of the future painted on the bare ceiling.
When sleep was refuge,
...

She smiles and giggles
Like a child with a toy,
Tongue-pierced lips guide a path to joy
Kissing around and side-to-side,
...

Go forth my son on paths untrod,
Keep chin and spirit high,
Tink'r with destiny and gaze not down
And soon your wings will fly.
...

When time stands still life peaks they say,
As time is forgotten in joy and play,
With eyes wide bright and lips stretched tight,
Those glittering pebbles of tiny white,
...

Raise your head, lift up your chin and look forward.

Do not shrink into the darkness,
Kneel not to the martinet,
...

Why is it that we not live but do?
To think when heeded,
To speak when needed,
To act on instruction, permission
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T'is not to be found in pocket or hand,
No silken robes or words expose,
T'is not sung, said or sounded loud
Nor in wreaths of glory shown.
...