We erected statues
to those leaders
who inspired
or enslaved,
back when things got done.
There was a kind of progress—
armies marched to kill,
factories produced and polluted.
It was a simpler time,
when a nation’s wealth
was calculated in tons
instead of bytes
and the elected were meant to lead
instead of distract.
(An ekphrastic poem written to “The Enigma of a Day” by Giorgio de Chirico, the Living Poetry September Visual Poetry Prompt.)
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.
We erected statues
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 