About Bartholomew Barker
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.
Living Poetry
august
our last month of winter
roll on spring
no swimming
but plenty of tennis
half time oranges
being the best part part of the
hit miss and giggle team
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Posted by Cressida | August 1, 2022, 8:39 AMAh! Half time oranges are universal. Thanks for sharing from the Southern Hemisphere!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 1, 2022, 7:42 PMI can imagine the half time oranges are super refreshing.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 9, 2022, 5:54 PMDesert Island
We played cast up on a desert island,
with water and trees
coconuts, oranges, mangoes,
and wild goats, Crusoe had goats.
We were beautiful queens,
one dark, one pale
who wove artistic huts of palm fronds,
white sand a smooth floor.
Lying in rags
in our plaited hammocks
in the shade
until the cloth wore out,
Until we realized
what was essential;
a single shipwrecked young
handsome boy- to share.
The game now complete,
we reveled in being marooned,
unseen and free, with the flush,
the portent, of being known.
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Posted by ts19page | August 1, 2022, 3:24 PMLovely! I had a tree house like Swiss Family Robinson but No Girls Allowed!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 1, 2022, 7:44 PMI am guessing that the no girls stage came to an end.
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Posted by ts19page | August 2, 2022, 1:54 PMI eventually came down from the tree house but only briefly.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 2, 2022, 5:17 PMI like this fantasy escape. 😃
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 9, 2022, 5:56 PMThanks, Cassa Bassa!
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Posted by ts19page | August 9, 2022, 6:37 PMLikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 1, 2022, 7:50 PMDown with the hot house complacent rich! Let’s hope their clementines are hard to peel!
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Posted by ts19page | August 3, 2022, 10:36 AMKissing Cousins
Smaller, but still same color,
easily pulled into tasty bite-sized
chunks, unlike its bigger cousin. I love ’em –
no knife needed, just pull peel off and chow down,
no troublesome juice dripping from wrist to elbow!
Give me the smaller, but never inferior cousin,
even if its name isn’t also its color! Yes,
give me a Mandarin thanks, and I’ll
happily kiss Oranges goodbye!
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Posted by carolyncordon | August 2, 2022, 5:10 AMI prefer Mandarins or Clementines too. Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 2, 2022, 5:20 PMKnock Knock
Who’s there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you surprised that I didn’t write a poem?
… runs a way …
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Posted by JeanMarie | August 3, 2022, 2:07 AMKnock knock.
Who’s there?
Citrus.
Citrus who?
Citrus that this is a poem.
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Posted by ts19page | August 3, 2022, 11:02 AMHa! It’s a self-refuting poem. Well done!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 3, 2022, 5:47 PMLol 🤣
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 9, 2022, 5:57 PMYou lie on your side
asleep
the light
smooth and warm
illuminates you
subtle curves
gentle touch
shadows start
where you end
running unto me
the scent of fresh cut oranges
like those you bring to the soccer games
a comfort
southern comfort
your southern comfort
sweetness tempered
we will soon savor
again
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Posted by Chris Clarke | August 4, 2022, 11:06 PMLovely description with light and shadow, fragrance and touch, so delicately approached and elegant.
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Posted by ts19page | August 5, 2022, 12:20 PMVery sweet! (No pun intended.) Great use of the senses.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 5, 2022, 7:37 PMI agree with the two commenters about the use of senses. 👍
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 9, 2022, 5:59 PMThis is an old poem I wrote last year which fits this prompt:
Orange Peel
Sexy lady
Ordered from the menu
Last night’s zest
Stained my fingernail
This morning
The off smell irritated
my spliting headache
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 9, 2022, 6:01 PMHa! Like me, you’ve learned the hard way to avoid sexy ladies. Thanks for sharing.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | August 10, 2022, 12:19 PMAs in -avoidance is the better part of valor.
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Posted by ts19page | August 10, 2022, 12:24 PM🤣
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | August 10, 2022, 4:29 PM