Walking Barefoot in April

Posted on 2023/04/24 by Bartholomew Barker

Venus beckons me from the twilight sky
but I am firmly rooted in my planet.
My bare feet squish through soggy soil
on my evening walk after a soaking rain.

The clouds reach down to caress
my hair with a misty breeze
but they cannot elevate me
to their layer of heaven.

No, I am of the Earth, born and raised,
and despite shoes and socks,
basements and bamboo floors,
I am still connected to my home.

(For today’s prompt, write a touch poem.)

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.

View all posts by Bartholomew Barker →

This entry was posted in Poetry and tagged bare, foot, glopowrimo, napowrimo, poem, Poem-A-Day. Bookmark the permalink.

11 Responses to Walking Barefoot in April

Sarah E Barker says:

2023/04/24 at 21:06

Very nice

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023/04/24 at 21:40
  
  Thanks!
  
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JeanMarie says:

2023/04/24 at 21:49

well done

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023/04/24 at 21:56
  
  Thanks, JM! It feels like it should be a sonnet but I couldn’t come up with a final couplet.
  
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  - JeanMarie says:
    
    2023/04/24 at 22:00
    
    I was wondering why you stopped at 12 lines. if you work shopped this I would suggest …
    
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Bridgette says:

2023/04/25 at 10:52

Wow. This is really beautiful writing. I could feel the energy and connection of the moment.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023/04/25 at 17:10
  
  Thanks! The prompt was to write about the sense of touch which is one of more visceral senses, like smell.
  
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berniebell1955 says:

2023/04/25 at 11:21

My eldest sister used to go on retreat to Lough Derg, in Ireland. She spent her working life as a nurse – first psychiatric, then geriatric. She needed to go on retreat now and then.
She said that one of the things which she liked most was to stand at the edge of the lough, barefoot, with her feet in the mud and just feel it – feel the mud between her toes, and the wetness, and the earth.
She’d just stand there – Grounded.

Did her a world of good.

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023/04/25 at 17:19
  
  I know how she feels, though I had to look up what a “lough” was.
  
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Heidi-Marie says:

2023/04/27 at 07:37

In praise of earth

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023/04/27 at 12:33
  
  Especially mud!
  
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