The Fire Sermon
I write by candlelight
because everything’s burning
My body is smouldering
like a midnight log
nearly exhausted
My mind flickering
nightmares sputtering
phantoms of a wasted muse
Our planet boiling
hollowed by desire
thunder speaks to water
those words these thoughts
all less substantial
than this little flame
(from this week’s Living Poetry Prompt based on T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land)
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 
WOW! Sends a message to reckon with.
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Thanks. I figured I had to make it a sermon, after all.
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Nice. Just so you know, I have a draft started from that prompt. It just so happens I also chose The Fire Sermon. I am NOT copying you. :)
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Fair enough. There were only five options so the odds were 20% you’d choose the same title as me anyway.
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Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. – Leonard Cohen
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He was a wise man.
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“My body is smoldering like a midnight log” ~ great line. Haunting poem!
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Thanks! I’ve always wanted to write a haunting poem.
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Exactly! Few words, strong impact. Falling fast to flame.
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Thanks! I’d forgotten about this almost four year old poem. It’s not bad.
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I am glad that wandering half aware through online portals dazed and confused leads to jewels in the forest which is hard to see for the trees.
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