Danny P. Barbare- Two Poems

The Homeless

A faithful friend the homeless
maybe. He holds a box lid that
says “work for food.”  Why come
he can’t eat at the Salvation Army
or soup kitchen on Stone
Avenue?  But to
say this is to say having
always had a Corelle plate to serve
beef stew, carrots, and potatoes
or corn beef and cabbage
cooked good and slow in
a Rival Crock Pot for a Sunday meal
and a house to call
home. Maybe a divorce. Mental illness.
Medical. Or loss of  income.
Their demons that prevent them
from getting
help. How a shadow can lean away.
Except for the light of Jesus Christ.


The Man Always Walking

A man wears a heavy coat,
raggedy clothes
and no shoes on his feet and
has a scraggly beard. Who he
is it seems nobody knows or even
cares where he comes from
or goes, but he always seems
to be around, faithfully,
whether cold rain or sun.
As if it is He who walks on
earth to this day and carries the
Cross of Calvary in front of
Walmart, or bathing in the
sink and brushing
his teeth at the county library.


Danny P. Barbare has recently appeared in Doxa, The Santa Clara Review, and Assisi Online Journal.