Traveler

Traveler

I know parts of this nation

On its roads and highways

In some shaded forests

The paths were not beaten

Except by me often alone

This desire to move there

Here and there any there

Is strongest when movement

Is no longer possible

When age’s match just smokes

Roads rattle me even on trips

To get groceries from a store

Just a short mile away

Then the urge to go farther

Belittles these baby steps

I think of South Dakota

Where I was born

Only to leave over issues

Cloudy and full of lightning

Prairie worms easily pass

Surprised as the flash

Strikes the far hills

Ì dream of riding that

Stalk of light and noise

In it's short and sudden life

Barry G. Wick

In the Dark

In the Dark

Coming and going, coming and going

The sound of engines and tires I'm Knowing

In the dark of the night as I lay on my right

They comfort me some out of dreams that are done

Pitched high or pitched low the traffic will go

America moves night and day don't ya know

Cross Iowa's land that's growing your food

As I lay on my bed in a fitful dream mood

Down in the dark these words make a mark

My fingers I tap with my hands on my lap

The sheets at my back this glow on the map

Unseen and unheard as I type my next word

Barry G. Wick

A Pattern for Silence

A Pattern for Silence

There is a pattern for silence

In the way I walk through

A hair stand of ponderosas that

Blocks the sounds of the world

At five thousand feet

Above sea level

Unimportant sea level

With the sound of the creek

Clacking boulders in the night

The sliding door open

To the lower lawn

A yawn fighting the shake

Of shoulders 

Barry G. Wick

The Three-sided Coin

The Three-sided Coin

Deep in my pocket

Lays a gilded dream

Two distinct faces

That fill an invisible third

It's no secret that I lived

In three places at once

Three dreams

The love of words

Came late to me

After music after boys

I could not openly caress

Three sides are now evolved

Into the one that forms

This creation

It is my hope to leave

The simple thoughts I have

After my years upon

This miracle of life

In awe of the heavens

I decided not to explain

Unknown Godd

There were many times

I prayed to all the affections 

Created by others far above

The simplicity of my being

I imagined answers

Came to me which

Escaped me

Beyond this moment

Lies the deepest black

Unfiltered and unnoticed

As it slipped into that day

Spending this Coin

I am with it

Shopping eternity

Barry G. Wick