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 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 
Congratulations! Metaphorically insightful, and so well penned, Bartholomew.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. 💜
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I shall tip-toe through the forest and be careful not to annoy the toadstools nor stand on the friendly faeries
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Good for you! Best to avoid mushroom circles altogether.
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What about the magic ones
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I’d say leave those for the poets but you’re already a poet so enjoy!
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I’ll wash them down with a glass of red 🍷
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Awesome. Congrats.
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Thank you, Anita.
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A trifecta of good news. Wonderful.
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Thank you, K. I especially like that they posted the three poems over three weeks rather than in just one post.
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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
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Remember, I only mention the acceptances here. If I posted every time I got a rejection, you’d have a different impression.
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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.
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I think I wanted more about the fairy. I loved the scarlet (skirt) implied and the wild flowers in her hair.
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Thanks! She was my muse for this poem.
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Congratulations 🎉 and love what you did with your parable! Well deserved my friend!!
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Thank you, Pam!
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👍💖
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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/
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Agreed, fungi and mold are fascinating life forms.
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That’s a parable speaks volumes
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Thanks, CB. That’s the power of parable (and metaphor).
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I’ve just seen this….
https://hothardware.com/news/scientists-create-a-living-mushroom-motherboard
Humans…are users.
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Interesting!
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That’s awesome…congratulations! Reads so interesting
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I try to write interesting stuff. Thanks for reading!
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great metaphor! Congrats! 💗
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Thanks! I am rather proud of that one.
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A pleasure.. you should be! ❣️
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