My hand rests
on taut muscles
flexing relaxing
under skin warm smooth
thin as her thong
A seductive serpent
coiling the Tree of Knowledge
offering the Fruit of Inspiration
in exchange for nothing of worth
besides my currency
This year marks the tenth anniversary of my first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular. To celebrate I’m posting my favorite poems from the book on Wednesday nights, of course.
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 
Thong-licious temptation! :)
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Indeed! Nice to see you’re still reading my work, Eduard. Thank you.
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My lord – woman seen as the temptress – Eve caused it all – utter baloney!
Not your poem – which is well put together – I mean the whole ‘woman tempts the helpless male to his fall’ baloney.
Oddly enough, it reminds me of the time I made the acquaintance of a Burmese Python – a fine beast.
No innuendo – it was an actual Burmese Python.
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I’m just playing with the Garden of Eden myth while actually paying these women to tempt me.
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I know that’s what you’re doing.
As they say here in Orkney – it’s a case of six and two threes.
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I disagree. It’s very different to pay a woman for an apple than it is to blame her for giving you one.
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Touche.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – you’re a clever ******!
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