Stand with me
while wildfires race the wind
and ash clouds the sky.
I’ll wipe your tears.
Stand with me
while flash floods scour the city
and debris tumbles by.
I won’t let go.
Stand with me
while gunshots echo off hills
and anger crowds the people.
I’ll be your shield.
Stand with me, hand in hand,
as the world falls down.
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 
Strong and beautifully romantic … especially for a confirmed bachelor! It truly is a remarkable piece Bartholomew! 👏🏼
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Thank you, Gypsie. It was a long time ago but I can still remember what romance was like.
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Good to know. :) A good poem Bart.
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Thank you, JM.
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Touching and absolutely beautiful.💕🙏💕
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Thank you so much, Grace.
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My pleasure 💕
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Yes, well done! I also appreciate the romantic flow and the take on our world today. It reads so well and provokes a sense of power, but tenderness too! 👍💕💕
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This one was definitely influenced by current events. Glad you liked it. Thank you.
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You are welcome 🙏 💕
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I still love this one, Bart. I wish you would add the nuclear holocaust option though. I’m gonna really need a hug for that one! Or the asteroid hit, maybe a combo of the two all at once. Are we dust, or light? Particle or wave?
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“We are stardust…..
and we’ve got to get ourselves, back to the garden.” – Joni Mitchell
Stardust is dust and light – and it’s what we’re made of.
Particle or Wave? Have you come across the work of James Clarke Maxwell? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell
As mentioned here…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/01/30/wave-form-impressions/
“And I think to myself…what a wonderful world”….Louis Armstrong.
Let’s hold on to it.
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If we want to hold on to it, we’d better get to work.
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There are too many existential threats but I prefer short poems so I could only pick a few.
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I just love it so much!
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So glad! Thank you.
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In case someone thinks I’m just a crazy lady……
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-we-really-made-of-stardust.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz96WBhC8ARIsAATR25130P6NLvuP1_e7Gfo-XWhLSnX8j_4Juf37ydL9HlS2_4LY0FfTyFMaAhL-EALw_wcB
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