Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of 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.
Burning cardboard boxes in the fireplace
the flame burns green
all outside is white and still
wood splinters clutter the hearth
we want a wood fire
to warm the winter heart.
We wear layers, comforted with wool
from sheep who grazed in sunlight
on green meadows,
prodded by shepherds, made to lie down.
We burn the boxes one by one.
There will be no more firewood
until the woodcutter comes.
The blaze crackles,
flames sear the chimney
to scatter in pale smoke
under the obsidian sky.
Fiery orange, yellow, red,
a spirit of green bounds upward,
translucent,
as a summer memory of leaves.
Smoke rises, a sacrifice
in homage to the past,
those many women huddled up
close to the fire, in ice-locked January.
Outside, fetching more wood
they look up to see the spectrum in the stars,
colors of cold light,
gathering the wood from starlight
the light connection is the soul of winter.
Here’s the first poem of the year.
=========================
I dreamed I breathed under water
my lungs
filtering life from the liquid
the universal solvent
with arms outstretched I float
in cold molten sapphire
light raging above
rays illuminate below
On land my ocean leaks out
bright heme soaks the land
uncertain if I will wake from this dream
uncertain if I already have
The dream of breathing underwater has so many meanings, and this poem works well with this image. The ending evokes the idea of life being a dream within a dream. The arms outstretched is a powerful image too, as if the poet is becoming an element of the universe, between light and reflected light, very good description of a mystical state of mind. Great work!
Every now and then I
drift
into an underwater view
It begins by seeing the fine bones
of your fingers, skin stretched smooth
to join thumb. I glide over
the eel skin of your palm that
glistens with salt water.
Every now and then I
fall
away from feet on stone,
from walking back and forth
inside a day,
to slip warm into the prism
in your eye, I
float
in rhythm of feeding,
breathe in, breathe out.
Every now and then I
dive
below the waves of how we live
from each others happiness
like from a cup,
this water in a dry day.
We drink as it fills, never empty.
Every now and then I
see
looking up or looking down
the short distance we have left
before we surface.
We could fear that moment
our breath will stop
but we do not,
for in world or out of world,
love is water and we are fish.
Álainn ar fad! Utterly beautiful … your words completely, inexplicably, echoed my own feelings the instant I looked at that child. You captured my feelings and spun them into a kind of gold … iontach iontach ar fad!
Living Poetry 
Green Root in Winter
Burning cardboard boxes in the fireplace
the flame burns green
all outside is white and still
wood splinters clutter the hearth
we want a wood fire
to warm the winter heart.
We wear layers, comforted with wool
from sheep who grazed in sunlight
on green meadows,
prodded by shepherds, made to lie down.
We burn the boxes one by one.
There will be no more firewood
until the woodcutter comes.
The blaze crackles,
flames sear the chimney
to scatter in pale smoke
under the obsidian sky.
Fiery orange, yellow, red,
a spirit of green bounds upward,
translucent,
as a summer memory of leaves.
Smoke rises, a sacrifice
in homage to the past,
those many women huddled up
close to the fire, in ice-locked January.
Outside, fetching more wood
they look up to see the spectrum in the stars,
colors of cold light,
gathering the wood from starlight
the light connection is the soul of winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by ts19page | January 8, 2023, 9:52 AMLovely! I especially liked the biblical shepherd references and the “scatter in pale smoke / under the obsidian sky” lines. Great work!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 8, 2023, 1:08 PMThank you! Bartholomew! So nice to know that you will read and comment. -S.
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Posted by ts19page | January 9, 2023, 5:53 PMI try to respond to every one that’s posted to the LP prompt. My apologies for any that I’ve missed.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 9, 2023, 7:16 PMHappy New Year, Folks!
Here’s the first poem of the year.
=========================
I dreamed I breathed under water
my lungs
filtering life from the liquid
the universal solvent
with arms outstretched I float
in cold molten sapphire
light raging above
rays illuminate below
On land my ocean leaks out
bright heme soaks the land
uncertain if I will wake from this dream
uncertain if I already have
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Chris Clarke | January 7, 2023, 10:20 PMThe dream of breathing underwater has so many meanings, and this poem works well with this image. The ending evokes the idea of life being a dream within a dream. The arms outstretched is a powerful image too, as if the poet is becoming an element of the universe, between light and reflected light, very good description of a mystical state of mind. Great work!
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Posted by ts19page | January 8, 2023, 9:25 AMAn excellent start to the new year. I especially liked the “cold molten sapphire”. Well done!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 8, 2023, 1:02 PMLikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 6, 2023, 8:56 PMNice contemplative state of mind…in an octopus’s garden for thee.
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Posted by ts19page | January 8, 2023, 9:27 AMYeah, that song kept going through my mind. Thanks!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 8, 2023, 1:03 PMTo sit in wonder
Still with pure fascination
Glory of a child
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Posted by John | January 2, 2023, 11:42 PMIndeed. Thanks for sharing.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 3, 2023, 5:18 PMOne fish
Two fish
Yellow and Blue Fish
Nice to look at but not to eat
Pass the potatoes and the meat
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Posted by JeanMarie | January 2, 2023, 4:18 PMAnti-pescatarians unite!
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Posted by ts19page | January 2, 2023, 4:28 PMahhh. don’t tell anyone that I love fish
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Posted by JeanMarie | January 2, 2023, 5:20 PMHa! Excellent nod to Dr. Seuss.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 6:03 PMThanks Bart.
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Posted by JeanMarie | January 3, 2023, 7:33 PMFish in the tank
Mesmerizing
Fish on my plate
Better
LikeLiked by 3 people
Posted by Second Act Blogger | January 2, 2023, 11:16 AMYum! They should include potato fish in the aquarium too for chips.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:26 PMI agree
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Posted by JeanMarie | January 2, 2023, 3:54 PMI love the practicality. 😃
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | January 2, 2023, 4:20 PMThank you
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Posted by Second Act Blogger | January 3, 2023, 6:53 AMSaltwater
Every now and then I
drift
into an underwater view
It begins by seeing the fine bones
of your fingers, skin stretched smooth
to join thumb. I glide over
the eel skin of your palm that
glistens with salt water.
Every now and then I
fall
away from feet on stone,
from walking back and forth
inside a day,
to slip warm into the prism
in your eye, I
float
in rhythm of feeding,
breathe in, breathe out.
Every now and then I
dive
below the waves of how we live
from each others happiness
like from a cup,
this water in a dry day.
We drink as it fills, never empty.
Every now and then I
see
looking up or looking down
the short distance we have left
before we surface.
We could fear that moment
our breath will stop
but we do not,
for in world or out of world,
love is water and we are fish.
LikeLiked by 6 people
Posted by ts19page | January 2, 2023, 9:03 AMLove the “eel skin of your palm”, the “prisum in your eye” and especially the last two lines. Brilliant!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:23 PMThank you for the reading and feedback, Bartholomew. -S.
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Posted by ts19page | January 2, 2023, 4:26 PM“love is water and we are fish” , a great analogy.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | January 2, 2023, 4:20 PMThanks, Cassa Bassa!
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Posted by ts19page | January 2, 2023, 4:31 PMspeckled, dancing fish
bring him a moment’s stillness
tranquility achieved
LikeLiked by 5 people
Posted by wordsandcoffee1 | January 2, 2023, 8:42 AMOh, sorry, I don’t think the line breaks worked in my comment, but it’s meant to be a haiku. 😁
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Posted by wordsandcoffee1 | January 2, 2023, 8:44 AMThe line breaks came through for me and I’m getting pretty lax about my haiku these days anyway. I’d accept a one-liner.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:20 PMThanks!
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Posted by wordsandcoffee1 | January 2, 2023, 2:42 PMI like how
‘speckled’ set off by commas sort of implies that the boy is ‘speckled’. As in speckled boy likes speckled fish — harmonious.
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Posted by ts19page | January 2, 2023, 4:13 PMThank you! I like that idea.
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Posted by wordsandcoffee1 | January 3, 2023, 8:44 AMExcellent haiku!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:19 PMAnseo, shuígh mé
Mo dhroim chucu
Ar eagla …
Ar eagla
Go mbeadh fíos orthú
Go feicfidh siad
Na deora
Ar m’aghaidh
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Posted by Dennis | January 2, 2023, 7:50 AMI mBéarla anois (now in English)
Here, I sat
My back to them
In fear …
In fear
They would know
That they will see
The tears
On my face
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Posted by Dennis or Donncha | January 2, 2023, 7:56 AMTouching. Thanks for posting the translation. I think yours is the first poem not originally written in English to the LP prompt!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:17 PMVision of You
I saw you
I saw the boy in you
full of love for the world and
the people in it
I saw you
I saw the boy in you fell off
over and over again with
no one dusting you off
I saw you
I saw the boy in you sobbing for
the unheard words
and unfelt love
I saw you
I saw the boy in you trapped in
a shattered glass heart
bleeding into glimpse of hope
I saw you
I saw the boy in you
puffy cheeks and a million dollar grin
fading away in a politically correct world
I saw you
I saw the boy in you
a pure and innocent soul could not be unseen
Truly I saw YOU
LikeLiked by 3 people
Posted by Cassa Bassa | January 2, 2023, 7:32 AMÁlainn ar fad! Utterly beautiful … your words completely, inexplicably, echoed my own feelings the instant I looked at that child. You captured my feelings and spun them into a kind of gold … iontach iontach ar fad!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Dennis | January 2, 2023, 7:53 AMThank you Dennis for reading my poem and your encouraging comment.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | January 2, 2023, 4:17 PMLovely! Especially the “shattered glass heart” stanza. Well done.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:13 PMThe fish darted by the boy display
unable to endure the captured,
frantic look on the face of the exhibit’s
newest acquisition.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | January 2, 2023, 7:24 AMHa! Nice reversal. I kinda feel that way at aquariums where you walk through a tube in the tank.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 2, 2023, 1:11 PMThank you Bartholomew and yes! 😊
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | January 3, 2023, 1:45 AMThat’s the way to twist!
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Posted by JeanMarie | January 2, 2023, 3:59 PMThank you JeanMarie! ❤️🙏😊
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | January 3, 2023, 1:30 AM