walking barefoot... <br />down alleys dark, <br />while children play <br />with garbage and broken glass. <br />past unlocked doors, <br />through buildings spent, <br />left for ghosts and tribal memories. <br />past walls charred by sweat and time, <br />left to smolder with empty ache.... <br />to the time before the time before, <br />when living had a name. <br /> <br />under war torn skies, <br />over bodies strewn, <br />and left for birds of prey. <br />down dusty roads, <br />holding a child's dark hands, <br />in shadows anguished pain. <br />the skies aflame, <br />as if stars died, and every veil is rent. <br />to the sound of freedom's hungered drums, <br />and shadowed wings beating fury. <br /> <br />to the barren room, <br />the mattress on the floor, <br />frost upon the pane. <br />where lovers turned upon the spit, <br />with bodies made of water. <br />eyes wide open, living thrust, <br />tongues tracing maps to destiny. <br />the hardened cock, <br />buried in soul's wet lips, <br />while angels silently prayed. <br />and the candle burned <br />till the break of dawn, <br />and moonlight's final kiss... <br />the barren room of the empty house, <br />where eternity revealed! <br /> <br />the field once plowed <br />has now turned brown... <br />sparrows pick at the dust. <br />and scriptures written <br />in hickory rust, <br />whispers lost to sound! <br />battles fought, and flags laid down, <br />cover caskets that wait for dirt. <br />the little girl's shoe, the old washtub, <br />the broken pot beneath the window. <br /> <br />while dogs bark, and ants converse, <br />and hearts are covered with snow. <br />the faces of god fade into wood, <br />stacked and thrown into the fire. <br />be it dream, be it madness, <br />or the simple turning of the wheel... <br />the wind turns with a final kiss, <br />bare feet walk the path in stillness!<br /><br />Eric Cockrell<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/walk-the-path-in-stillness/