American Dream Deferred
A deeply rooted dream
that one day this nation
will live out the true
meaning of its creed
A dream that little children
will one day live not judged
by the color of their skin
but the content of their character
I’d like to live in that America
too
Continuing the long tradition of White men stealing the labor of Black men, I took the title from Langston Hughes and all but the last two lines from Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech in an erasure style but with the intention not of erasing but emphasizing.
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 
❤
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All credit to the giants upon whose shoulders I stand.
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Tribute!
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My best attempt at a tribute.
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A beautiful one.
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Thanks.
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I love the longing you expressed.
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Thanks. I hope we won’t have to long much longer.
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Your voice is heard and I concur.
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It’s the same everywhere. The blood within any skin, is red!
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That’s right. We all bleed the same blood.
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That’s the word! “Bleed”
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Yeah, English is a weird language.
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