Lament for a Quiet Life

Posted on 2018-04-12 by Bartholomew Barker

For today’s prompt, write a lament poem. Maybe you lament a relationship or a missed opportunity. Or maybe it’s that doughnut (maybe speaking from personal experience). Whatever it is, today is the day to let it all out–in poem form, of course.

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Lament for a Quiet Life

Why can’t I have a nice quiet day
with no status meetings,
no last minute requirements,
no emergency texts from the wife?

Why can’t I have a nice quiet year
with no deaths in the family,
no divorces among friends,
no suspiciously suicidal accidents?

Why can’t I have a nice quiet life
with no wars, no depressions,
no illegitimate presidents,
no criminal CEOs?

Why can’t I have a nice quiet time
without all this strife?
Because if I did I’d become bored
and lament my formerly exciting life.

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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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3 Responses to Lament for a Quiet Life

  1. Pingback: Money is not time – ….Bilocalalia….

  2. writenaked's avatar writenaked says:
    2018-04-15 at 17:14

    What an interesting thought! I’ve wondered the same about if I had quiet weekends with no commitments and if that would mean I had a boring life. I still hope to have at least one nice quiet day soon!

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