Poems by Barry Harris

Something At The Center is a heartfelt collection of eclectic poetry that will appeal to both the casual reader and the avowed spiritual seeker. It reaches for the place that keeps people honest - the heart.

The sanskrit word "namaste" roughly translates as "my soul recognizes the divinity in you." Something At The Center explores the soul's recognition of the divine in everyday experience. Truth is found in our daily struggles as well as in deliberate moments of solitude and soul searching. This poetry stands in witness to the discoveries made when we are "fortunate to stand inside God's smile."

"This book of poetic intimacy is a poignant reflection of the author's own spiritual journey. Each poem allows the reader access to the joys, sorrows, wonders, fears, questions, parallels and unconditional loves of the "surprise" encounters with God in each of our lives." – Sister Judian Breitenbach, PHJC, The NAMASTE Center for Holistic Education (LaPorte, Indiana)

"This collection of poems will surely strike a beautiful, divine, harmonic chord in your heart. By peeking into the soul of Barry Harris, we eavesdrop on the thoughts of God." - Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D., author of Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water and Health of the Human Spirit. (brianlukeseaward.net)

Something At The Center

Something at the center
says the I love you in me
and I only echo the words
like a canyon to you.

Like the gentle spread
of a gull's wing placed just so
to catch the wind's loft
we are all the essence of each other.

In all our trying to become ourselves
and to set ourselves free on the wind
we are gentle fools not yet knowing
we are already there.

Low Hopes

Riding the office elevator upward
I have low hopes for the day.
Dragons and giants wait for me
on my daily to-do list.

It would be a good day
if I could simply stay within myself,
have a good conversation or two
and throw a well-aimed pebble
at the forehead of the one giant
who might slay me tomorrow.

Barry Harris lives in Zionsville, Indiana and works as a systems analyst in Indianapolis. A member of the Indiana Writer's Center, Barry is editor of the Tipton Poetry Journal and has published one poetry collection, Something At The Center, and one chapbook, The Soul At Work: Poems From The Office. His poetry has recently appeared in SubtleTea, Lily,The Centrifugal Eye and Flutter Poetry Journal and is forthcoming in The Houston Literary Review.and Night Train.

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