Happy March Equinox, poets!
This week let’s write a poem with the words although, spring and woodpecker in it. This is another of those prompts where I randomly choose three words from a list of the top 1000 words in the English language plus a few of my favorites. Post your poems in the comments below.
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 
My head pounds
like a woodpecker gone wild
from the constant swings
of winter to spring
sometimes all in the same day.
Although if history repeats
we will eventually have summer.
The cycle of seasons
requires a nap today.
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Posted by JeanMarie | March 20, 2023, 9:58 AMLove this!!!
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 20, 2023, 2:53 PMThanks!
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Posted by JeanMarie | March 20, 2023, 2:56 PMLove the woodpecker as headache image. Great work!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 20, 2023, 8:03 PMPecker
Although I’m grateful for spring,
even the machine-gun rattle
of thick-skulled avian testosterone
on my
brand
new
gutters,
I think the woodpecker became so excited
about the fact that he could pecker,
that he never stopped to ask
whether he should pecker.
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Posted by Jonathan Byrd | March 20, 2023, 10:36 AMThis is great – can doesn’t equate to should
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 20, 2023, 2:54 PMLove the machine-gun rattle of thick-skull avian testosterone. Well done!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 20, 2023, 8:05 PMhttp://gypsieswritingmusingsquotesgripes.com/2023/03/20/natures-song/
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | March 20, 2023, 12:24 PMExcellent use of sounds in this one and love the “wintered ears”. Great work!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 20, 2023, 8:07 PM(Big smile) Thank you so much Bartholomew! 🙏
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | March 20, 2023, 9:12 PMAlthough is indeed a tough prompt word in poetry
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 20, 2023, 2:53 PMSorry about that. It’s just the way the dice fell.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 20, 2023, 8:10 PMHaha I am still working on a poem
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 21, 2023, 12:48 AMImprobability
The spring here sounds quieter
Because woodpeckers don’t live here
Although they communicate through reverberatory sound
But it’s impossible to reach Australia
*Woodpeckers are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 21, 2023, 1:09 AMWhat a shame you don’t get woken up at dawn by a woodpecker trying to dig the last bug out of a tree.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 21, 2023, 7:51 PMDon’t worry we have Kookaburras here just as noisy if not more.
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | March 22, 2023, 12:21 AMhttps://bartbarkerpoet.com/2023/03/22/the-roots-of-spring/
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 22, 2023, 6:07 PM