![Screenshot_2020-02-23 Sir Joseph Noel Paton Hesperus, the Evening Star, Sacred to Lovers 1857 [Fine Paintings 50512] - $138[...]](https://bartbarkerpoet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/screenshot_2020-02-23-sir-joseph-noel-paton-hesperus-the-evening-star-sacred-to-lovers-1857-fine-paintings-50512-138...-1.png?w=230&h=300)
Hesperus by Sir Joseph Noel Paton
Like Venus smiling in the twilight
you’ve cut a shadow across my life—
imperceptible while upstaged
by the blatant sun or fickle moon
but I still feel your cold caress—
your light whispering in my ear—
every cup of coffee, every sudoku solved,
every wipe of the bathroom sink.
What would you think of me now,
now that we’re in different orbits?
Our lives no longer revolving
around each other but in your spotlight
I’m always performing—
just for you.
(That bright star in the western sky for a couple of hours after sunset is the planet Venus. Blow her a kiss from me.)
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 
This is beautiful and the art is lovely too!
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Yeah, that was one of the few pictures I could find that showed Venus the way we see her from Earth. Plus Sir Joseph was a good Scottish painter.
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A beautiful post, loved it!
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Well done on the revision.
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All because of your insightful feedback. Thank you!
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