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
I’ve been editing for days the words of a friend.
Preparing to publish his life’s work before his end
He’s enamored of rhyme,
the sounds that end every other line …
and, at times, I want to gag, to choke
but, some, no, many, are simply sublime.
I stop
I listen
I read them again …
Just then an email comes in.
Inviting me to speak of what I see in the water …
It’s fresh, and cool
but, I wonder, what does it matter.
But it washes and cools me
And I sense how it moves me
His words and this water
as, calmed now I ponder
An immigrant’s life of passion in verse
And two dogs, with stick, pursuing their mirth
And, yes, I now know
it really does matter
more than, perhaps, I’ll ever know.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Posted by Donncha Ó Corcráin | March 6, 2023, 8:17 AMLovely! And perhaps autobiographical, Go raibh maith agat, Donncha!
LikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 6, 2023, 5:11 PMWell, yes, in the sense it’s entirely true and accurate. He, my friend, Patrick, a Tipperary native, living in St. Louis, sends me more poems almost nightly via email for inclusion in his book which I’m ”self” publishing for him. I awake early, get some coffee and set to work on his latest emailings … and, as the piece says, quite literally, ”just then an email comes in … ” – your Monday morning prompt.
Agus, tá Gaeilge agat! Maith thú! Agus tá fáilte romhat, a chara!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Dennis or Donncha | March 7, 2023, 2:42 PMPlease change my email address to calnordt@gmail.com. Thanks, Cal
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Cal Nordt | March 6, 2023, 1:18 PMSorry, Cal, I can’t do that for you. I could probably ban you but I can’t add you.
LikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 6, 2023, 5:13 PMWhat a Dope!
We had a lab
who wouldn’t fetch
until we added water
He played all day
and came away
and never fetched again
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Second Act Blogger | March 7, 2023, 9:25 PMI guess there’s no challenge in fetching on dry land. Nicely done.
LikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 7, 2023, 10:48 PMLikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 10, 2023, 7:03 PM