This week let’s write a love poem (since Valentine’s Day is Wednesday) but you may not use the word “love” nor any of its forms in the either the poem, title or epigraph. Get out your thesauri and post the results in the comments below.
About Bartholomew Barker
Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, where he has hosted monthly workshops 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 the Pushcart Prize in 2021, 2024 & 2025 as well as the Best of the Net Anthology in 2024. His work has appeared in The Lake, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Panoply, Tipton Poetry Journal, the Gyroscope Review and the Naugatuck River Review among others.
Living Poetry 
According to the Dog
I adore you every hour
that I’m not asleep.
You are my crush
when you dish out
the food that I must eat.
You’re my delight
when you attach
my harness and my leash.
Just one thing trumps
my passion that I
always feel for you –
A warm and mushy
cow poop pool,
my favorite type
of bath.
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | February 12, 2024, 7:22 AMThis poem is based on an actual incident I don’t care to repeat.
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | February 12, 2024, 7:23 AMYou’ve captured the canine voice well. Cow poop is delightfully stinky!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 12, 2024, 7:02 PM😂
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | February 12, 2024, 8:50 PMAction Says It All
He is a pragmatic man with few words
He’ll do anything to make her smile
Acting like a clown and telling hilarious jokes
Serving her breakfast in bed or a cup of tea when she is sad
Installing a hammock by the firepit for her home winter retreat
Building a zen pond and filling it with waterlilies and fish to cure her homesickness
Moving country to support her career
There is nothing he won’t do to make her happy
He is a pragmatic man with few words
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Posted by Cassa Bassa | February 12, 2024, 4:19 PMA loving portrait. Very well done!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 12, 2024, 7:03 PMLikeLiked by 2 people
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 12, 2024, 10:42 PMLikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Chico’s Mom | February 13, 2024, 10:15 AMExcellent use of repetition. Thank you for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 13, 2024, 7:00 PMThank you 💕
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Posted by Chico’s Mom | February 13, 2024, 7:01 PMComing Home
How she unfolds the tablecloth
Catches my eye
And takes me in
Beyond desire into comfort.
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Posted by highhiker | February 13, 2024, 11:46 AMVery nice. That can be taken many ways. Thanks for sharing!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 13, 2024, 7:05 PMThank you! Pleased to be able to contribute.
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Posted by highhiker | February 13, 2024, 8:17 PM