Tag Archives: ekphrastic

Just Like Writing Poetry

Posted on 2025-09-01 by Bartholomew Barker

Spent all morning washing the clothes, birds on the wing in the bright blue, I smiled back at the sun in his sky. But as soon as I hang the wash on the line the gulls and clouds fly in … Continue reading →

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Last Night at Collaborature

Posted on 2025-03-15 by Bartholomew Barker

I’m pleased to announce that one of my ekphrastic poems was just publishedat Collaborature. Thank you, Melissa! Jul Thomas is one of my artist friends and when she showed me this painting, I just had to write a poem for … Continue reading →

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Ghost Owl Face

Posted on 2025-03-03 by Bartholomew Barker

I am very proud to announce that one of my haiku has been published over at Pure Haiku as part of their Ghost Owl Face series. All the haiku appearing there recently were inspired by the image above by Kerfe … Continue reading →

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Best of the Net

Posted on 2024-11-24 by Bartholomew Barker

Last summer, my poem, Overnight at the Downs, was one of the winners of the Flapper Press Ekphrastic Contest and I guess they really liked it because it was just nominated it for the Best of the Net anthology in … Continue reading →

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Koi in a Bucket published at Spank the Carp

Posted on 2021-08-02 by Bartholomew Barker

Nearly a year ago, Spank the Carp held an ekphrastic contest where we were given an image to inspire our poetry. I thought I’d give it a try and while I didn’t win, the editor asked if he could publish … Continue reading →

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Guernica

Posted on 2020-05-19 by Bartholomew Barker

This evening I attended a NCWN online workshop on ekphrastic poetry, lead by Maureen Sherbondy. She offered several famous paintings as prompts and one of them was Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. I’ve been thinking about the Spanish Civil War a lot … Continue reading →

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Pre-Modern

Posted on 2019-09-02 by Bartholomew Barker

We erected statues to those leaders who inspired or enslaved, back when things got done. There was a kind of progress— armies marched to kill, factories produced and polluted. It was a simpler time, when a nation’s wealth was calculated … Continue reading →

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Gauguin

Posted on 2019-02-04 by Bartholomew Barker

Gauguin returned from painting naked south seas women to tend his friend Van Gogh. The painting turned out better than his ministrations. Perhaps our present crisis will propel us to a better future of worldwide topless tropical beauty. A mango … Continue reading →

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The Rule of Three

Posted on 2018-03-26 by Bartholomew Barker

The March edition of the Tongue & Groove featured an ekphrastic challenge where we were to write a new poem or song based on one of the pieces in the VAE gallery that serves as host to the open mic. … Continue reading →

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