Donating a Pint
My blood looks like wine
as it pours from vein to vial,
a fine Pinot Noir
though with better legs.
I’d like a transfusion,
direct from bottle to arm,
bypass my burning stomach,
molten core of misery.
A nice Merlot will lighten
the mix flowing to my brain,
relieving regrets remembered
when I drink too little.
Like the Antichrist, I’m turning
blood into wine, one glass at a time.
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.
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 