This week let’s write a poem with the words fox, river and well 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 
Nothing is as it seems
clever, clever, creatures
can they be out foxed
these foxes,
behind the scenes
sitting up high
cutting deals
throwing
economies and dreams
down mossy wells
leaving every one
paddling blind
having nightmares
in rivers cold as ice
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Posted by DanielleM | January 20, 2025, 8:43 AMMade me smile, thanks!
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | January 20, 2025, 6:04 PMaww happy 😃 to know that it made you smile 😊 ❤️
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 8:00 AMLovely and so fitting for today. Thank you for sharing, Danielle!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 20, 2025, 7:14 PMYou definitely got the underlying tone of it. 🙂 Thanks for the feedback and of course, thanks for the wonderful prompt.
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 8:02 AMThe River, a fox and a well
I went out into the world,
my fortunes ah to seek.
I followed the road
till my feet did shriek.
Beatin’ the pavement took on new meaning,
my soul it left careening.
The road led to a river.
It I followed. Praying my fortunes, it would deliver.
For drink or food, I never wanted.
My heart within me taunted.
We are bored. If we stay here, we will become complacent. Maybe even lazy.
My brain tried to quiet it with logic. Have you forgotten the sun and the road that made us hazy?
Let us stay here. Listen to reason.
Never forget the long season.
As the battle raged on, a fox, cute and funny.
I called after it, “come here Sonny.”
Suddenly, all was lost
in a game of cat and mouse.
A feeling so euphoric and on-looker would have thought I was soused.
I chased him over rocks.
That gave me lots of knocks.
I chased him through fields.
Losing sight of what was real.
I chased him around a bend.
Never to see him again.
Lost, hungry and thirsty.
I found a well. Looking upon it lustily.
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Posted by Chico’s Mom | January 20, 2025, 12:11 PMA lovely ballad! Nicely done, Jolene.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 20, 2025, 7:19 PMThank you 💕
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Posted by Chico’s Mom | January 20, 2025, 8:26 PMA lovely poetic story that rolls along well, when read. I enjoyed it.
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:11 AMThank you 💕 I’m glad you enjoyed.
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Posted by Chico’s Mom | January 22, 2025, 10:12 AMA lovely poetic story that rolls along well, when read. I enjoyed it.
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:11 AMA lovely poetic story that rolls along well, when read. I enjoyed it.
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:11 AMVeil of Duplicity
The well runs deep in Fox River
a beast rises from it’s dark obscurity
Anonymity shattered by those with memories
Darkness wells up from below
the stench of evil carried upon the wind
The dead roll over in fear
the old shiver remembering
Time has not diminished
the malfeasance of one
Obsessed with power committing
atrocities in the name of good
When the blackness of corruption is near
The Earth will recall her bounty
nations will fall beneath him
The veil of duplicity will lift
too late for the followers to repent
The false god has been ensconced
the people have sealed our fate
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | January 20, 2025, 2:11 PMLove the stench of evil and dead rolling over in fear. Great job, Gypsie!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 20, 2025, 7:22 PMThank you Bartholomew! 🙂
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Posted by Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris | January 20, 2025, 10:12 PMYou had me hooked with, “the beast rises from its dark obscurity”
Thanks for sharing !
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:18 AMYou had me hooked with, “the beast rises from its dark obscurity”
Thanks for sharing !
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:18 AMBye-Bye
Foxtails hug
the wooden well
and wave the river bye-bye.
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | January 20, 2025, 6:03 PMLove the haiku that can fit all three words in naturally. Well done, Nolcha!
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | January 20, 2025, 7:23 PMThank you, Bartholomew. I had to think for several hours before I figured out what to write.
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | January 20, 2025, 8:21 PMSuch a short sweet poem. ❤️
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Posted by DanielleM | January 22, 2025, 10:20 AMThanks, Danielle!
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Posted by crazy4yarn2 | January 22, 2025, 4:24 PM