I’m thankful
that the porcelain moon glides through her phases
that the planets march in a line across the sky
that Polaris won’t be our North Star forever
that spring rains carve new beds with their floods
that summer sparked wildfires unmap forests
that autumn hurricanes spawn surprise tornadoes
that angry protesters march in the streets
that my noisy neighbors are happy drunks
that all my ex-wives have remarried
that I’m putting on weight for winter
that my beard is graying but not my hair
that I’ll die someday
but I’m not dead yet
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 
That’s nice 👌
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Thank you. I thought it might be a little dark for the holiday.
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I love this. There’s something really cool and unexpected about the language here.
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Thank you. It’s certainly not going to appear in a greeting card.
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A bit dark, no? But I like it, especially the last stanza and line. I’m glad you’re not dead yet too.
Sometime you’ll have to explain this line:
hat Polaris won’t be our North Star forever
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Our planet is wobbling as it spins so because of that, in about twelve thousand years, Vega will be bright star closest to the north celestial pole.
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So… not in our lifetime then. Check.
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Actually during our lifetime, the pole gets even closer to Polaris.
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