Like a Tree in April

Posted on 2024-04-27 by Bartholomew Barker

We hold deep conversations
when you’re not around.
I explain why I don’t enjoy
Star Trek: Discovery
and what could convince
me there was a god.

You’re the perfect companion
always asking the right questions,
never probing where I don’t want
to go. If you were really here
I’d fumble and wouldn’t say
what needs to be said aloud,

like a tree in April whose buds
have not yet broken into leaf.

Today we’d like to challenge you to write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.

And I’m proud to announce that one of my poems, Happy Hour, has been published at the Lothlorien Poetry Journal. I hope you’ll read this “bonus” poem-a-day that I wrote years ago so it doesn’t count. Thanks, Strider, for granting this one a home!

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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.
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10 Responses to Like a Tree in April

  1. DD's avatar DD says:
    2024-04-27 at 20:07

    I love the tenderness in this sonnet Bart.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  2. ivor20's avatar ivor20 says:
    2024-04-27 at 20:39

    I am a tired autumn leaf at the moment ..

    Liked by 3 people

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  3. Othermary's avatar Othermary says:
    2024-04-28 at 08:29

    Well done, you! I read the prompt and couldn’t manage anything with it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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