Poems Niederngasse
 
Michele Rose Barkley
Conspiracy of Youth

Children
covered 
head to toe

Hair
hats
bandanas

Ropes
chains
piercings
tattoos

Shades 
concealing
baggy pants
oversized shirts, jackets

Shoes untied
without laces

Faces lined
without traces
(of joy or knowledge of purpose)

Concealing
everything unrevealed
within an outside
cover-up
(of contempt)
for those who would
strip them bare
or emulate
with a passion
they long to feel
 

A lover of language and poetry, Michele Rose Barkley is the author of Wayfaring Stranger ~ Poems, which recently received the Writer's Digest National Self Published Book Award for Poetry.  Her poetry has been featured in various magazines, newspapers and anthologies, including several appearances in Essence. Barkley also produced the audiocassette version of Wayfaring Stranger. She is Co-Director and Executive Producer
of the short film In View of A Cup Half-Full: ART PEACE Volume I, an adaptation of the poem, "Spiral Pillar," taken from Wayfaring Stranger, released in August 2000. A New Jersey native, Barkley now lives in Seattle, WA. Email: Michele Barkley www.soundpubco.com
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