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.

Bartholomew Barker has written 421 posts for Living Poetry

Monday Poetry Prompt: Belief

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ June 15, 2020 ⋅ 6 Comments

This week let’s write a belief poem. You could describe something you believe in fully or how it felt when you learned the truth about Santa Claus. Post your creed or screed in the comments below.

Monday Poetry Prompt: Kinfolk

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ June 8, 2020 ⋅ 11 Comments

This week let’s write a kinfolk poem. Last Thursday saw the birth of my latest cousin-grandniece, my father’s brother’s son’s son’s daughter. We’re all related by blood to other people. We might not know them, we might not like them but they’re there. So post your “thicker than water” poems in the comments below.

June Visual Poetry Prompt

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ June 1, 2020 ⋅ 9 Comments

How’s the weather up there? Post your poetic answer in the comments below.

Monday Poetry Prompt: Names

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ May 25, 2020 ⋅ 19 Comments

This week let’s write a name poem. JeanMarie forwarded me this video by Auntie Laurel. While it’s designed to teach elementary school kids poetry, she offers an interesting prompt around the 2:45 mark to write a poem with your name as a metaphor. My only extension of the prompt is that it doesn’t have to … Continue reading →

Monday Poetry Prompt: Sleep

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ May 18, 2020 ⋅ 10 Comments

This week let’s write a sleep poem. It could be a lullaby or a lament for lost sleep. Just write something and don’t forget to post it in the comments below before nodding off.

Monday Poetry Prompt: Lament

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ May 11, 2020 ⋅ 14 Comments

This week let’s write a lament. With the current pandemic, I think we’re all grieving something, whether it’s a loved one or just the loss of what we considered normal life. Of course, laments have been written for millennia, we don’t need a virus to feel loss. Post your lamentation in the comments below.

May Visual Prompt

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ May 4, 2020 ⋅ 9 Comments

Hope everyone had a good National Poetry Month and completed the April Poem-A-Day Challenge. Apologies for not reposting the Poetic Asides prompt as promised. This month’s visual prompt (courtesy JeanMarie) is above so post your poems in the comments below.

Monday Poetry Prompt: Moment

Posted by Bartholomew Barker ⋅ April 6, 2020 ⋅ 2 Comments

Yesterday’s Poetic Asides’ April Poem-a-Day Challenge Prompt by Robert Lee Brewer: For today’s prompt, write a moment poem. The moment could be this very moment in time. Or pick a moment from your past and dive into it. It could be a huge moment or event in your life (or the life of another). Or … Continue reading →

Living Poetry

Search