Afterglow

I hosted a Germination Workshop this afternoon. We wrote to seven prompts for a little more than two hours. The first was to today’s poem-a-day prompt. Since we only had about ten minutes for each prompt and I couldn’t think of anything more interesting, I stuck with my default setting and wrote a sex poem. Feel free to complain in the comments below.

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “After (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “After Dinner,” “After You,” “After Hours,” and/or “After I Finish Writing This Poem.”

pair-3393904_640Afterglow

In the sweaty heavy breathing
our bodies sink into the mattress,
too hot then too cold,
except for where our skins touch.

Mind wiped, all my thoughts
spewed out, so I’m just here,
just now, no plans, no regrets,
just holding another body,

feeling like my fathers fathers
have for untold millennia
and will for at least a few years more.

About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. 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 makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.
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4 Responses to Afterglow

  1. Lisa Tomey says:

    “All my thoughts spewed out” may be a new favorite line.

    Liked by 1 person

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