All Sorts of Things Fall from Trees

Posted on 2023-04-26 by Bartholomew Barker

Fledglings dropping into flight
Abandoned nests on the ground
Gooey green walnuts that ooze sticky hands
Spiky sweet gum balls that pierce bare feet
Pecans scooped for cracking
destined for syrupy pie
Mulberries plucked
from high branches
by eager children
spoiling dinner
fingers stained
purple swinging
long low limbs
down to Earth

One could do worse

(Today’s poem is a collaboration with my pals at Charles House. I celebrated my sixth anniversary working with them by sharing a forest of tree inspired poetry and then we wrote our own except for the last line which we stole from Robert Frost’s Birches.)

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.

View all posts by Bartholomew Barker →

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

9 Responses to All Sorts of Things Fall from Trees

Annabel says:

2023-04-26 at 20:35

what a delicious and delightful write!

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023-04-27 at 09:53
  
  Thanks! It was a lot of fun once we stumbled upon the title to think of what all we could have fall from trees.
  
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  - Annabel says:
    
    2023-04-27 at 19:43
    
    Most welcome! looking forward to more fun topics from you! 🥳
    
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Sarah E Barker says:

2023-04-26 at 20:50

i like it

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023-04-27 at 09:57
  
  Thanks and thanks for introducing to Charles House all those years ago.
  
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The Inkwell (Pankaj Kumar) says:

2023-04-26 at 21:14

Such a nostalgic and vivid portrayal of childhood memories, reminding us of the simple joys of life that we often overlook as adults. 👍👏👌😊

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023-04-27 at 09:59
  
  Indeed. Since the gang at Charles House are all having memory problems, we’ve found the childhood ones are the most readily accessed.
  
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Heidi-Marie says:

2023-04-27 at 07:31

So true. I never thought of the many things which fall from trees! Well portrayed!

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- Bartholomew Barker says:
  
  2023-04-27 at 12:31
  
  Thank you, HM! We debated having the children fall from the tree too but thought that was too dark.
  
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