This week let’s write a list poem. A list poem is just a poem that lists things but in a poetic way, of course. A good holiday example is December 26 by Kenn Nesbitt. This time of year there are plenty of lists we work on, wish lists, shopping lists, naughty and nice lists. Post your list 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 
I wrote the original in Irish (Gaelic) …
Go n-éirí muid
Go n-éirí muid
Go n-éirí muid amach
As an bochtineacht
As an tiorántacht
As an biogóiddeacht
As an saofacht
As an fuarchroíocht
a cheanglionn ár grcoithe le slabra trom.
——
I’m guessing few will be able to ‘get’ the original Irish. Trust me – there’s a driving rhythm, a drum beat, ala Emerson, perhaps … Anyway, here’s the above in English. There are 3 more verses but I’ll spare y’all the bother of them.
———
May we rise up
May we rise up
May we rise up
Out of the poverty
Out f the tyranny
Out of the bigotry
Out of the perversity
Our if the cold-heartedness
Which binds our hearts with heavy chains.
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Posted by Donncha | December 11, 2023, 8:23 AMA great list of things to rise out of. Good job!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 11, 2023, 7:25 PMI Wanted to Be Something Else
I wanted to be a firefly
lighting up the summer nights.
I wanted to be a double rainbow
after a sudden storm.
I wanted to be the piano keys
my mother’s fingers danced on.
I wanted to be the winter wind
that pushed the clouds away.
I wanted to be the full moon
that turned the night to bright.
I wanted to be a sunrise
that painted roses pink.
I didn’t want to be a child
trapped in this wrinkled, saggy body.
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Posted by nolchafox | December 11, 2023, 9:25 AMMaybe when you grow up you’ll get to be some of those things.
Great work!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 11, 2023, 7:27 PMIt’s too late for me to grow up!
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Posted by nolchafox | December 11, 2023, 8:53 PMLikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | December 11, 2023, 10:24 PM