December Solstice

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Happy Solstice, dear readers!

The chocolate holiday open mic was a delight. It was standing room only in Matthew’s. We shared two bottles of wine, a couple dozen poems and almost as many truffles.

To celebrate the longest night of the year for my fellow northern hemispherians, I offer my latest chocolate poem.

Treasure

Small bag
Of silent coins
Gold and silver
Foil wrapped
Treasure

They do not jingle
Jingle all the way
Beautiful as winter
Sparking stars
Held in the hands
Of a greedy boy

More valuable
Than precious metals
More fleeting
Lost on a spin of shin
More delicate
Melting on fingers
And lips

Give me no objects
Wrapped in pretty paper
Treasure to bury
Or clutter shelves
Collect dust

Give me events
A smile a wink a glance
Moments lost forever
A small plate with two forks
Volatile unreliable
Sweet memories
To treasure

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.

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