We the People

Must we look in the mirror of time once again
to see the struggles of mankind?
Shall we look in crystal balls to see our future?

Does history not show us
that ours is a journey
fraught with obstacles
and illusions?

Have we not learned the lessons
of this rugged earth we walk,
its crust of mountains and valleys?

We are still carving paths through rock and forest
looking for a way home.

Do not believe such folly
that dictates we have found it.
Many before believed they
held the key.

"The longest journey is the journey inward"
once a wise man said.
And here is where our future lies . . .
in the deep dark caverns of the soul.

This is the journey that will prove our mettle.
This alone transcends all others.
Leaders will come and go and some may follow
but the solitary man must rise or fall
in the light of his own heart
~
or the darkness of his own soul.

Joanne Cucinello
2009

Behind Closed Doors

As we mourn for Caylee Anthony . . .



Out in the street
chalk lines, half-erased,
echo a child's brief laughter.

A rag doll
once her bedtime friend
lies faceless in an empty lot
waterlogged by endless rain.

Behind closed doors
a mother plays a deadly game
full of smiles and flashing eyes.
Two years of baby hugs quite enough now
~ for the young and beautiful.

Behind closed doors
the muffled cries that no one heard
cries that no one listened for
except the toys ~ who were her only witness.

Pictures on the evening news
flash across the screen tonight. . .
A precious package found. . .
broken, torn and dirty
food for animals,
strewn like treats among debris
pieces of a stranger's child
we knew not ~

~ Yet we mourn together
this little life
as if she were our own.


Joanne Cucinello
2009