Message in a Bottle

Posted on 2023/04/25 by Bartholomew Barker

My messages in bottles
have dissolved to mush
riding the waves
for so many years

Heartfelt poetry
and crumpled pages
become mere litter
emotional clutter

Like plastic water bottles
clogging the oceans

(Today’s prompt over at the April Poem-A-Day Challenge was a repeat of day 4. Fortunately, tonight I hosted a Germination Workshop for Living Poetry and we wrote to seven prompts over the course of ninety minutes. The above poem was prompted by the above stock photo which the Random Picture Generator offered.)

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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17 Responses to Message in a Bottle

  1. Sarah E Barker says:
    2023/04/25 at 21:02

    Don’t get it. Sorry

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris says:
    2023/04/26 at 00:31

    I find it a very deep and telling poem. Your poetry does not float unnoticed and turning to mush – it touches others, many orders. It touches me. It’s not litter and never emotional clutter. 🧐

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/04/26 at 05:22

    First, I thought “Cheery sort, ain’t ya’?”

    Seriously though – no way is that bad poetry.

    It’s telling, that’s what it is.

    This might not appear to be relevant, but it is …… note what can happen when you cast your bottle upon the waters….(listen to it right through)….

    ‘Athazagoraphobia’ will be in m’blog tomorrow.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/04/26 at 05:59

    PS

    It could be said that…your ‘bottles’ are made of glass, not plastic – so they would break down to sea-glass – which can look wonder-full when held up to the light.

    There you go….

    https://theorkneynews.scot/?s=I+want+to+age+like+sea+glass

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/04/26 at 06:04

    PPS

    I have no idea why the two extra bits are in the link for the ‘sea-glass’ piece. The ways of the Internet remain a mystery to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Didier Beaugrand says:
    2023/04/28 at 00:09

    I really love that one. and I relate, I often feel our voices get drowned to irrelevance. probably one of the side effects of the democratisation brought by the internet. It turned an ocean with a few messages into a pond clogged up with plastic bottles. I still prefer it that way though. the bottles were always there anyway, it’s just that instead of floating, we were sunk at the bottom, unable to reach anyone at all…
    Thanks for that. I really enjoyed the read.🙏

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Bartholomew Barker says:
      2023/04/28 at 10:37

      Thank you for reading and extending the metaphor! I agree that things are better now with the internet and the lack of professional editorial filters though that means it’s on the poets to draw attention to their work rather than marketeers.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. Susi Bocks says:
    2023/05/11 at 16:39

    NO, don’t let it be so!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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