Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. 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 inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
Waves gushed into the unknown
Known selves trudged forward into the uncertain
Sandy shores slurred with rushing, salty waves
Waving back to life’s lonely shores
Sure to find an everlasting place
Placed hands together and prayed
Prayers united for a solemn space
They were innocence
All naivety and guileless charm
They knew no better life
Had no remembrance
Of anything that wasn’t this.
The isle held their secrets,
Childhood games
of survival
A life imperfect
With no compare.
Here they’d grown
Not hiding from each other
No knowledge, no shame
No needing to atone
Just a natural order.
The surf as much their home
As their shore-bound shelter
The birds their playmates,
The fish caught in water’s foam
Their sustenance
Found in one another.
Living Poetry
🤠
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | June 7, 2021, 7:32 AMWaves gushed into the unknown
Known selves trudged forward into the uncertain
Sandy shores slurred with rushing, salty waves
Waving back to life’s lonely shores
Sure to find an everlasting place
Placed hands together and prayed
Prayers united for a solemn space
LikeLiked by 3 people
Posted by Lisa Tomey | June 7, 2021, 8:03 AMVery nice. Love the sandy shores slurred with rushing salty waves line. Great work!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 7, 2021, 7:13 PMThank you!
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Posted by Lisa Tomey | June 7, 2021, 8:24 PMThey were innocence
All naivety and guileless charm
They knew no better life
Had no remembrance
Of anything that wasn’t this.
The isle held their secrets,
Childhood games
of survival
A life imperfect
With no compare.
Here they’d grown
Not hiding from each other
No knowledge, no shame
No needing to atone
Just a natural order.
The surf as much their home
As their shore-bound shelter
The birds their playmates,
The fish caught in water’s foam
Their sustenance
Found in one another.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Posted by Amy Hadley | June 7, 2021, 3:13 PMVery nice! I get a Blue Lagoon vibe, without the incest. Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 7, 2021, 7:16 PMThank you!
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Posted by Amy Hadley | June 8, 2021, 10:25 AMWouldn’t it be paradise!
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Posted by Lisa Tomey | June 7, 2021, 8:25 PMYes, it would! Thank you Lisa.
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Posted by Amy | June 8, 2021, 10:26 AMLikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 7, 2021, 7:42 PMhttp://flickerofthoughts.com/2021/06/09/shamless/
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | June 8, 2021, 6:22 PMNice one!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 8, 2021, 7:27 PMThanks for writinng this
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Posted by Corey | January 19, 2025, 7:09 AM