Maps to the Haunted

Posted on 2023/10/09 by Bartholomew Barker

I grew up surrounded by ghosts
in a state whose name means great river
in the dead language of the Seneca.

Specters and spirits all over the map,
like Chillicothe on the banks of the Scioto
where framed by molded plastic rocks

as a white child, I watched an outdoor drama
about the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh,
performed by actors in red-face,

but at least he was the hero.

(For this week’s Living Poetry Prompt and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The offensive image is one of many lithographs by Nathaniel Currier (c. 1846) that portray future U. S. Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson killing Tecumseh.)

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. 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 makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.
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9 Responses to Maps to the Haunted

  1. ivor20 says:
    2023/10/09 at 21:46

    Poignantly appropriate Bart …

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Michele Lee says:
    2023/10/09 at 23:38

    Great job, Bart, incorporating many elements into your relevant poem. The phrase “dead language” evokes shame and sadness.

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. berniebell1955 says:
    2023/10/10 at 05:02

    While on the subject of ….people….

    Orkney Story Tellers & Guests at the 2023 Storytelling Festival

    Liked by 2 people

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