Tag: Bartholomew Barker

Lost Keys | Bartholomew Barker

April 11, 2022

I always find my keys
in the next to last place
I look. I keep searching
between cushions, just in case.

Maybe I’ll discover another set
that unlocks a faster car,
a bigger house, a better life,
hidden under the coffee table
or in the vegetable crisper.

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit. www.bartbarkerpoet.com

Winter Begins | Bartholomew Barker

December 22, 2021

We’re all in trouble if the Sun
keeps sinking earlier and rising later

No thaw in the Earth— no planting in spring
no harvest in autumn just a night with no dawn

Snow piles higher— rivers freeze to their beds
and the atmosphere shivers solid

Leaving our icicles around the final embers
of the fire we lit tonight to entice the prodigal sun

Back to the sky

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit. www.bartbarkerpoet.com

A Boy’s Afternoon in Summer | Bartholomew Barker

August 27, 2021

The backyard woods of my youth
were a cavern of green
ripe for exploration
trees inviting me to climb
creeks daring me to wade
bugs to torture
and railroad tracks cut
through the trees like a wound
flattened pennies
ready for harvest

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food poetry was served in 2017.http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/

Angry Afternoons | Bartholomew Barker

August 19, 2021

In winter I can wear more layers
but on these angry afternoons
of burning blacktop
sweat stains
and sunburn
there’s only so much I can take
off and not get arrested

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food poetry was served in 2017.http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/

At The Beach | Bartholomew Barker

August 12, 2021

My castle stood resolute
ramparts thick and towers tall
seashell embellishments
and a broken sand dollar sundial
safe in the keep

As shadows grew longer
waves eroded walls
the tide flooded the moat

And I celebrated
an honest day’s work

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food poetry was served in 2017.

http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/

For my Muse | Bartholomew Barker

July 29, 2021

Your caress and kind

Attention are the only

Medicine I need

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017.http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/
Selected by the editor as a featured submission, December 2021

Reality Sucks | Bartholomew Barker

July 27, 2021

Truth can be bitter

Just like nasty medicine

But lies never heal

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017.http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/

Doctor Verse | Bartholomew Barker

July 21, 2021

Don’t edit yourself

Poetry is the fever

Let it heal your mind

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017.

http://www.bartbarkerpoet.com/

Kudzu | Bartholomew Barker

March 1, 2021

Sleeping kudzu drags early spring trees
down with slender gray fingers
revealing forest to the road

I drive past while my memories sleep
through winter and see her vast potential
a dormant landscape to be explored

But by summer I’ll only see a wall of green
and forget the depth of her— hidden
behind overgrown frowns and shrugs

Let me forget the past so I can remember the future

Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poetry lovers in North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.

www.bartbarkerpoet.com

Selected by the editor as a featured submission, November 2021