Last Astronaut
Past midnight
on the great plains
desolate street light
hangs over a gas station
The faded sign creaks
in the wind
peeling paint
corroded pump
stark fluorescence
casting shadows
on hard packed dirt
I am a fallen astronaut
surveying this relic
the last outpost
on the edge of suicide
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!
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Glad you liked it.
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Wow! This takes my mind in more than one place.
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Cool. I”ll claim I meant to do that.
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Feel free!
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That’s a great closing stanza.
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Thank you.
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This is intense! Nice poem
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Thank you.
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