Coalesce 2025

Posted on 2025-01-06 by Bartholomew Barker

For the month of January, two of my poems appear on the walls of the Eno Arts Mill as part of the Coalesce 2025 exhibit. Above is a picture of me with my visual artist, Ellie Snow, and our collaborations. She shared a painting for me to write a poem to and I shared a poem for her to paint to and we were just one of ten pairings in the show so the gallery has forty works of art: paintings, pottery, sculpture and, of course, plenty of poetry.

Ellie asked me to write a poem to her painting, Chestnuts for Justice, Aloe for Grief. I only had a few weeks to work but that was more than enough time since her art was so inspiring.

I asked Ellie to paint something to my old poem, The River Flows Through Us All, which first appeared here as part of the April 2020 Poem-A-Day challenge and which I later revised and got published at North of Oxford.

If you’re driving distance from Hillsborough, North Carolina, I strongly encourage you to visit the gallery so you can experience the power of collaboration.

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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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37 Responses to Coalesce 2025

  1. DD's avatar DD says:
    2025-01-06 at 19:56

    Nice work.

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Nicole Smith's avatar Nicole Smith says:
    2025-01-06 at 20:14

    What a lovely show, beautiful artwork. Congratulations.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. jsimpsonpoet's avatar jsimpsonpoet says:
    2025-01-06 at 20:30

    Fantastic Bartholomew

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Melissa Lemay's avatar Melissa Lemay says:
    2025-01-06 at 20:36

    Beautiful!!🤩

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. johnlmalone's avatar johnlmalone says:
    2025-01-06 at 20:48

    wonderful, Bart; it is such an honor to have one’s poems displayed on the walls of a gallery alongside its visual counterpart.

    Liked by 2 people

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  6. Michele Lee's avatar Michele Lee says:
    2025-01-06 at 20:55

    Fantastic! Congratulations to you and the visual artist, Bart! Beautiful collaborative results. 👏🏻

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Britta Benson's avatar brittabenson says:
    2025-01-07 at 03:25

    Congratulations!

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Ephemeral Encounters's avatar Ephemeral Encounters says:
    2025-01-07 at 04:37

    Wow Congratulations!

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. JeanMarie's avatar JeanMarie says:
    2025-01-07 at 04:55

    Well done, . Congratulations! 😍

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. Loveswing's avatar Loveswing says:
    2025-01-07 at 05:14

    Beautiful work, the power of collaboration is so important. 💜

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. magickmermaid's avatar magickmermaid says:
    2025-01-07 at 10:55

    Wonderful collaboration of poetry and art! Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. johnlmalone's avatar johnlmalone says:
    2025-01-07 at 21:22

    Hi Bart, I;m going to suggest to our writers group when we meet in Feb that we try something like this

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Susi Bocks's avatar Susi Bocks says:
    2025-01-15 at 17:19

    Congrats, Bart!

    Liked by 1 person

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  14. LuAnne Holder's avatar LuAnne Holder says:
    2025-01-17 at 13:24

    What a beautiful collaboration! The poems and paintings are lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. LuAnne Holder's avatar LuAnne Holder says:
    2025-01-17 at 13:26

    What a lovely collaboration. Both the paintings and the poems were beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. Sunra Rainz's avatar Sunra Rainz says:
    2025-01-19 at 09:02

    Beautiful collaboration 🌟

    Liked by 1 person

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