Forest Parable published at Edge of Humanity

Posted on 2023/03/06 by Bartholomew Barker

I am pleased, proud and positively pumped to announced a new poem of mine, Forest Parable, has been published over at Edge of Humanity. This is the third of three poems that they accepted recently and I’ll definitely be submitting again.

Forest Parable starts like this:

A lone mushroom, grown in the dark,
thinks of his fellow fungi as enemies,
turns toadstool, buys an assault rifle…

About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.
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33 Responses to Forest Parable published at Edge of Humanity

  1. jai says:
    2023/03/06 at 19:07

    Congratulations! Metaphorically insightful, and so well penned, Bartholomew.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • Bartholomew Barker says:
      2023/03/06 at 20:52

      Thank you, Jai! It was written for a call for poems about gun violence but it got rejected there. So glad it found a home.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • jai says:
        2023/03/06 at 22:36

        I’m happy for you that it did, Bartholomew. 😊💜
        I used to send out my poetry and short fiction to magazines, and had some published. And, on previous sites/blogs took part in poetry challenges; but, I’ve grown lazy and now only publish my work here.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Bartholomew Barker says:
        2023/03/06 at 22:41

        I encourage you to keep submitting to others, if only to drive more traffic to your blog. Plus there’s that little thrill when someone else likes your work enough to publish it.

        Liked by 2 people

      • jai says:
        2023/03/06 at 22:50

        The thing is, my goal here is not to “drive” traffic to my blog. I write because I have to write (or go crazy) and if people happen to stumble across my blog and like it, fine. I’m not here for the accumulation of followers. And like I wrote, I’ve had my work published by magazines outside of the WordPress realm, and while, yes, there is that little thrill at getting published, it pays next to nothing (The most I was ever paid was $100 for a short story.) to compensate for the work and time involved in submitting. I’m happy with what I do now, and that’s what’s important to me. 💜

        Liked by 3 people

  2. ivor20 says:
    2023/03/06 at 19:12

    I shall tip-toe through the forest and be careful not to annoy the toadstools nor stand on the friendly faeries

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. anitashope says:
    2023/03/06 at 19:45

    Awesome. Congrats.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. K. Hartless says:
    2023/03/06 at 20:50

    A trifecta of good news. Wonderful.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. pensivepoetblog says:
    2023/03/06 at 23:09

    Short story. To the point. I’m left wanting more. I think the fly agaric can be more persuasive, or insightful, but that’s just me. I was waiting for the psychedelia to kick in.

    Congratulations on the publication. It’s like you can’t miss these days.

    Best, M

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • Bartholomew Barker says:
      2023/03/06 at 23:36

      Remember, I only mention the acceptances here. If I posted every time I got a rejection, you’d have a different impression.

      Like

      Reply
      • pensivepoetblog says:
        2023/03/07 at 00:02

        This story is more complex than I thought. On reread it might be this one mushroom is grown in lab-like conditions rather than a natural grown one and that’s why he’s all hostile. That makes so much sense. He’s grown in the dark. Forests are dark but there’s still light. Not like the dark under somebody’s kitchen sink. And if it grew up around humans, well, there’s not telling what trauma it might have seen. . ..

        It’s a very good poem.

        Liked by 1 person

      • pensivepoetblog says:
        2023/03/07 at 00:05

        I think I wanted more about the fairy. I loved the scarlet (skirt) implied and the wild flowers in her hair.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Bartholomew Barker says:
        2023/03/07 at 17:30

        Thanks! She was my muse for this poem.

        Like

  6. yourplateormine967244485 says:
    2023/03/06 at 23:35

    Congratulations 🎉 and love what you did with your parable! Well deserved my friend!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/03/07 at 03:10

    Aye – you’ve got it all there. Extra words from me would be superfluous (Bart raises a quizzical eyebrow!).

    This will go in m’blog.

    Fungi fascinate me – https://frontiersmagazine.org/author/bernie-bell/page/2/

    And there’s slime mould – not a fungus – but what is it? – https://frontiersmagazine.org/the-wonder-that-is-slime-mould/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Cassa Bassa says:
    2023/03/07 at 06:29

    That’s a parable speaks volumes

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/03/08 at 10:42

    I’ve just seen this….

    https://hothardware.com/news/scientists-create-a-living-mushroom-motherboard

    Humans…are users.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. utopicdystopian says:
    2023/03/08 at 18:36

    That’s awesome…congratulations! Reads so interesting

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Cindy Georgakas says:
    2023/03/13 at 12:31

    great metaphor! Congrats! 💗

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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