How could I love thee?

Posted on 2023-02-14 by Bartholomew Barker

How could I love thee?

When you’d smack your lips
as you ate apple pie
When you’d snore through the night
’til the sun rose in the sky
When you’d drum your fingers
or bite your nails
When you’d order extra onions
or drive past yard sales

But I knew I loved you
because you’d smile at my bad jokes
apologize with flowers
and hold me under the umbrella
during April showers

And as our sundial decays to rust
our garden blooms with well earned trust

(Another Valentine’s Day poem, this one written with my friends at Charles House.)

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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.
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26 Responses to How could I love thee?

  1. trE's avatar trE says:
    2023-02-14 at 19:42

    This is so beautiful, Bart.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Katie Frances Hartless's avatar K.Hartless says:
    2023-02-14 at 21:06

    How lovely. The final stanza particularly moving.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. jaidai23's avatar jai says:
    2023-02-14 at 22:25

    Beautiful, Bartholomew…what love should be.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Max Ethan's avatar Max Ethan says:
    2023-02-15 at 02:03

    This is so beautiful, Bartholomew

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. luisa zambrotta's avatar luisa zambrotta says:
    2023-02-15 at 08:16

    I find this poem wonderful! This is Love❣️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. JeanMarie's avatar JeanMarie says:
    2023-02-16 at 05:22

    That last couplet is so sweet. Ya’ll did well

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Dawn Pisturino's avatar Dawn Pisturino says:
    2023-02-20 at 10:23

    That’s so beautiful!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Milena Alien's avatar Milena Alien says:
    2023-03-08 at 16:40

    I think about it a lot, and here you got all the answers for me

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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