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
First frost
reminds me leaves will drop
and brown and crunch and scatter,
that soon I’ll wrap my brittle bones
in fleece and wool and shivers,
that sidewalks will be coated ice
and I must watch my step,
that snow and ice will melt in spring
and bring us fruit and flowers.
Published in Medusa’s Kitchen
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Posted by nolchafox | November 6, 2023, 7:37 AMLove the being wrapped “in fleece and wool and shivers” Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | November 6, 2023, 7:22 PMThanks so much!
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Posted by nolchafox | November 6, 2023, 7:25 PMI want to say ‘harmless’ …
or ‘the cycle of life’
these images of death,
countless innocents,
blanketing my field of view.
I turn off the news.
I can take no more.
A thousand eyes for an eye,
A thousand teeth for a tooth.
No, I’ll turn to poetry.
On this Monday morn
And pray, if there is a god …
… hah …
there is no god
which condones or forgives
this blood-lust passage of fall.
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Posted by Donncha Ó Corcráin | November 6, 2023, 8:13 AMHear! Hear! Well done.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | November 6, 2023, 7:24 PMMy messy garden and unkept lawn
Shelters and feeds creatures
Small and unseen
I would rather be a good citizen of Earth
Then a compliant homeowner
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Posted by JeanMarie | November 11, 2023, 4:21 AMHa! Good for you! I’m sure the wee unseen beasties thank you.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | November 11, 2023, 1:39 PM