Thinking about War

Posted on 2025-06-23 by Bartholomew Barker

They keep it cold in the skyscrapers
so the old men can wear their suit jackets.
I escape into the real and heat seeps
into my skin revealed by rolling
up sleeves and relax in untamed air.

But delicious thaw turns to onerous melt
as I sweat out the greed and search for shade
like a mouse under an unbroken sky.

We may burn beneath the afternoon sun
but we’ll forget in the limerence
of moonlight that this is the plan
and we don’t have enough money
to buy ourselves out.

 

(For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt and Living Poetry’s Monday Prompt.)

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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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12 Responses to Thinking about War

  1. trE's avatar trE says:
    2025-06-24 at 05:15

    “We don’t have enough money to buy ourselves out.” *Sighs*

    That part!!!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. ivor20's avatar ivor20 says:
    2025-06-24 at 07:09

    The war between who is right and who is wrong goes on and on, Bart

    Liked by 3 people

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  4. thelongview's avatar thelongview says:
    2025-06-26 at 07:04

    Never met the word ‘limerence’ before, and what a lovely phrase that is – limerence’ of moonlight!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  5. Susi Bocks's avatar Susi Bocks says:
    2025-06-30 at 20:25

    Because they just don’t care about us!

    Liked by 2 people

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