lives lived


how 
many 
potential 
lives
have I 
not lived
in this 
one


that I 
am 
living 
now? 






Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker

Magpie Tales Photo Prompt 50: Up In The Air: Tell Me Where...

if it pleases

tell me where 

and I will go,

if it pleases 

my soul;

if my intuition,

for once, is not

restrained by 

idiomatic sensibilities.

Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 

Photo courtesy of Tess Kincaid, at Magpie Tales.

The Junk Store

the prop




you fix a gaze 
hard ahead,
fashion whore: 
tell me again


what part 
of you you wish 
me to see.  




"Don't know why I took the picture. 
Don't know what the poem means." - RB


Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 

Magpie Tales Photo Prompt 49: A Really Short, Short Story.

triples

Miss Lutz, Miss Axle, Miss Sal 

toe-looped too short and fell in the snow.

Friends in threes and triple the laughter 

in days of cold so long ago... 

Mini-Story © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 

Old family photo from Tess Kincaid at Magpie Tales.

Magpie Tales Photo Prompt 48: A Cobwebbed Melody

your lyric

each note faded 

then scaled from

the page of our 

cobwebbed melody.

I tore myself 

from your lyric 

and you fell away

singing. 

Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 

Photo courtesy of Tess Kincaid at Magpie Tales. 

the French lesson




so how is 
Paris? the


French lessons 
must be serving 
you well - or 


serving you. 


and the 
Frenchmen? I 
doubt you have 
to close your eyes
grit your teeth
and try to 
get through it 


as you once 
described the 
thought of me 
desiring 
you - oh


the romance
and art,
bistros,
cafes - the 
boulangerie francaise - 


you must be 
beside yourself 
as you always 
are no matter 
who you're 
beside - pity


it's winter 
and frigid;
Eiffel Tower 
steel must stick 
to your tongue 
(rivets of 
frozen language 
in your heart) 


I hear 
they have 
cobblestone streets
or brick - careful 


not 
to stumble: 


stone isn't 
as forgiving 
as I - not 


as hard as 
I wish to 
be.  


Poem ©2011 by R. Burnett Baker 
Early 20th century oil painting of Paris street scene by Jean Remy, personal collection of R. Baker.

Magpie Tales Photo Prompt 47: The Tao of Desire

sculpted desire 

from sculpted 

desire we cling to 

myriad windows - 

no wheel of 

transmigration - rather

life loops, the path, the 

dead ends, 

The Way. 

Poem ©2011 by R. Burnett Baker

Photo courtesy of Tess Kincaid, 2011. 

A Reaction To Karzai

I'm not usually given to writing poetry of political commentary.  This piece has been written to coincide with my essay today on Baker'sTake.  This poem doesn't necessarily take a stance on one side or the other. 

Perhaps it should. 

http://bakerstake.blogspot.com/

  

guilty fingers cast

(a reaction to Karzai)

guilty fingers cast skyward

begging for salvation 

while stabbing the Afghan sky 

in vulgar defiance.

the vanguard and vanquished

harvest fields of purple poppies,

the color of dried blood. 

Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker 
Finger photo from CNN/Muslimsagainstsharia.com, August, 2009. 
Poppy photo ©Beth Kingsley Hawkins.

Painting:  Oil on wood/size unspecified, 2007, by Eddie Tang, Seattle, Washington.  

Blue Norther

mountaintop snow 

quickens the river

of a Blue Norther's

journey

colder than stilly

rigid frost. 

Poem © 2011 by R. Burnett Baker