Tag Archives: cemetery

Toll

Posted on 2021/12/06 by Bartholomew Barker

Toll The church bell cracked.Poor and dying,the congregationcould not make repairs.Like an ice cream trucktrapped in a steeple,cheap electronic chimesswept empty streetsof wooden windoweddowntown shops. Incessant windsfrom the flatlandsscraped through cornfields,toppled hollow treesin the village besiegedby crumpled cemeteries. Former residentsnow … Continue reading →

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Alben William Barkley’s Grave

Posted on 2021/06/22 by Bartholomew Barker

The sky was bluer than usual this morning as I drove to Paducah, Kentucky. No clouds and fewer trees as I crossed fields of corn and soybeans. The sky was so blue I could almost pick out the brightest stars … Continue reading →

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Old Bunhill Fields Burial Ground Published!

Posted on 2021/05/15 by Bartholomew Barker

I am pleased to announce that a poem I wrote back in 2018, while I was wandering around London, titled Old Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, has been published in the Friends Journal. This one draws heavily upon my Quaker upbringing … Continue reading →

Posted in London 2018, Poetry | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Old Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

Posted on 2018/06/24 by Bartholomew Barker

Old Bunhill Fields Burial Ground How old is this tree under whose branches I write? What’s left of George Fox is somewhere nearby. Maybe his flesh fed the tree whose leaves form a dome of green protecting me from this … Continue reading →

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Bunhill Burial Grounds

Posted on 2018/06/23 by Bartholomew Barker

Today I visited the grave of one of my favorite poets, almost. The Bunhill Burial Grounds is in the eastern half of London. Apparently the name “Bunhill” might be from “Bone Hill” as this area is reputed to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in London 2018 | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Highgate Cemetery

Posted on 2018/06/21 by Bartholomew Barker

Happy Solstice! To celebrate I went the farthest north that I plan to go in London: Hampstead. While still accessible by underground, it feels very much like the smaller towns and villages that I’ve visited elsewhere in Britain. I walked … Continue reading →

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Brompton Cemetery

Posted on 2018/06/19 by Bartholomew Barker

Today I walked to one of the so-called Magnificent Seven Cemeteries of London. Brompton Cemetery happens to be nearest my hotel so, despite sleeping in, I still arrived in the middle of the morning. The north end of this expansive … Continue reading →

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Battle with Time

Posted on 2018/04/09 by Bartholomew Barker

Credit Suzanne Olivante for the image prompt. For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Battle (blank);” replace the blank with a word or phrase; make the new phrase the title of your poem; and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: … Continue reading →

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Schuyler Colfax

Posted on 2017/07/17 by Bartholomew Barker

Since I was sort of in the area and the libraries were closed on Sunday I drove up to South Bend to visit the grave of U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax who served under Ulysses Grant. It’s been a while … Continue reading →

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Serendipity

Posted on 2016/07/07 by Bartholomew Barker

My final visit to the archives was to the archives proper which meant I had to get an official readers card with my picture. I wonder if this will count as identification for the voter suppression law in North Carolina. … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland 2016 | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments