Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Outside The Window







quietly AM






it isn't early
but early enough
for air to be still
and critters 

invisible

the rose bush
is quietly red
and leaning
ground-side
heavy with
bloom.









Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker
Photo©  2012 R. Burnett Baker

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Idiomatic Logic / Contrived Logic







story time 



there are two sides, it's said 
to every story.

the color of a lie 
depends on degrees of 
conscience, but each one
(the lies, that is) tells its 
own truth, its 

idiomatic logic, its 
variegated connection 
to its polar opposite. 

"variegated", however
 is the ultimate 
contrived logic. 






Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker, Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Monday, May 28, 2012

Sunrise, Sunset











you/I/us 




how similar are 
sunrise and sunset 
colors, (discordant 
echos removed) eyes 
sounding tiny streaks 
of light 


radiant and glorious 
as each second's 
birth? 


close your eyes: 
inhale the fragrance 
of magnificent sameness
in our differences. 




Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Photo taken by R. Baker, Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Keeping In Touch: Gathering Our Lives...























gathering lives 




so for years 
we have known
and been content
in the knowing 
of each other. 


the second hand 
is relentless, though,
and for once 
we must stop 
gathering details, 
and fix a gaze 
on one another. 


we must, 
for surely 
the sun will rise 
and muddled muffled 
dreams of sleep 
will fade and 
our memory will 
be that of 
abstractions. 


we will question, 
then, 


whether we 
dream in color 
or black and 
white. 




Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker, Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Magpie Tales 119: Denial







in this death
together




the search for clues
began. never had 
they considered their
own closets, or under
their hats.  hiding 
valuables in shoes 
was common but 
uncomfortable, 


so no one could fathom 
why she walked so far 
for so long, then sat 
staring at the table


as if to bring him 
back to life; or why


her eyes gazed fixed 
on the sky, unblinking,
glazed. 


denial is the first step to 
abdicating responsibility. 




Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Painting:  House At Dusk, 1935, Edward Hopper Shared by Tess Kincaid





Friday, May 25, 2012

A Flower In Every Season




























unfazed 




there is satisfaction
in playing nature 
against her moment, 
standing tall when
out of season;


dancing under 
storm clouds 
waltzing the
horizon; 


basking in sunlight
diving into night;


in placing one smile
against  the stem of
wagered
odds. 




Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker
Photo taken by R. Baker, Lake Buchanan, Texas.







Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Reflection In The Sand





(un)natural


when we came upon the carcass,
dust and maggots in mass, the heavens 
opened to tears and prayer, silent

though they were, 

and no one dared speculate on 
cause or danger ahead. each 
piece of flesh that becomes 
nourishment becomes a gift to 
something, these creatures, 
this earth of recycled givens 
taken for granted 
by sheer existence. 

decomposition is the 
creation of chaos, 
the bundled horror 
of what we imagine 
as our fate.






Poem ©2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo ©2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker, October, 2011 Lake Buchanan, Texas. 

Monday, May 21, 2012

Home
















homeward






this house picked me
            as much as I it


in softlight prose 
walls unfold their past
            my future 


one moment 
            forward.






Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker, Rochester, NY

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Magpie Tales 118: Send In The Clowns



The Circus With the Yellow Clown, 1967, Marc Chagall
Shared by Tess Kincaid



high wire 


wasn't that the shits? 
coming down from a 
night high - booze, maybe 
pills - 

coming down to realize 
the one you picked for 
a one night fling wasn't 
that hot after all 

wasn't that the shits? 
that he fell in love with you
and sang your songs, the 
radio on - wasn't that 
just... 



Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Necessity




"A twig in a bird’s beak
is recompense for simplicity of 
a living need."

-Rick B. Baker



©2012 R. Burnett Baker 


Thursday, May 17, 2012

In Search Of Arthur Rimbaud




Self Portrait by Julian Hakym



young poets 
and 
old cafes


the view is always piquant street-side.
curled scenes through 19th century glass, 
quaint as they may be, age the extant complexion 
our faces reject -  visions words demand 
from devotees and suitors alike.

verses in porcelain chipped-edge cups 
color each word red, shaded by your mouth 
of desirous flesh, caffeinated and smoke-fragranced, 
each line capturing an audience in silence. 

cobbled streets collect rainwater and tears, 
rounded stones whetted for engraved words, 
and you offering discorded glances 
to potentialities:  "have a light?" breaks the ice, 
but your lips are frozen unto themselves, 
sealing opportunity to ethereal imagination.

we shuffle across weathered floors of ash-strewn 
rhymes, eye contact engorging our neurosis, 
burning this agony of want onto paper. and yet, 
orgy lust is but a book cover away from open, 
those dead and dying poets, kept neatly under 
your hat, the one you wear to make you "older."  

young poetry is much too avid  to be dark. 
brooding is for jaded eyes, echoed hearts;
yours simply beg cupidity for quenching. 
caffeinated mid-day angst in peppered
vignettes of your latest fling or love affair,  
is punctuated by smoke-stained cuticles 
shaded amber by needless habit: 

that will suffice for now, for
as long as tobacco smolders quietly
between spring's willowed fingers 
and an old soul's 
reason. 

















Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Window photo taken by R. Baker, 2009 in Ithaca, NY

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Magpie Tales 117: Arrangements

"The Meal", 1891 Paul Gauguin 
Shared by Tess Kincaid 



renderings 


there must be 
emotional significance
in how we place pillows 
                   on a sofa,

or exhibit art 
                   on walls, 
angle our favorite chair,
or position food in bowls 
                   on a table. 

an emotive response 
to arrangement tugs our sleeve
like a child asking the 
same question repeatedly...

we cannot tear ourselves
away from these 
                   solitaire efforts 
of enlightenment,

inward renderings of self, 
and quests for 
                   significance. 


Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker



Saturday, May 12, 2012

We Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

















outlined
a full moon 
      rises
all life  
outlined 
      in silver.  




Acrylic on canvas painting 24" x 36"  untitled by R. Baker, 2008.
Poem © 2009, 2012 by R. Burnett Baker 


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Poetic Justice: No Issues Please, Just Causes

Image borrowed from: http://worldthatchangestheworld.wordpress.com/


I'll Say It Again


We don't elect the president.  The president is appointed by the elite industrialists/bankers who comprise the Trilateral Commission, Bilderberg Group, and the Council On Foreign Relations. 

But we vote for the president, as well we should.  It's just that the American public is not motivated enough to rally and demand that the jackasses in both houses of Congress, and within both political parties actually do their jobs of REPRESENTING US.  But let's not get into all that here. 

Today in the news, and tonight on network TV, one of our local TV anchors reported on President Obama's flip-flop view on same-sex marriage, and Mitt Romney's ongoing opposition to same-sex marriage.   I suppose for Democrats this is a flip-flop that they can wear:  The campaign shoe fits?  For Republicans, Romney can continue to parrot the tried and true but tired right-wing garbage about the sanctity of marriage (Forget about that 43% to 50% divorce rate) and the family. The above mentioned anchor said that "...gay marriage will be an issue during this 2012 presidential election." 

How the freak many times do we need to be reminded that GAY MARRIAGE IS NOT AN ISSUE.  IT'S A CAUSE.  ABORTION IS NOT AN ISSUE.  IT'S A CAUSE.  A FLAG BURNING AMENDMENT IS NOT AN ISSUE.  IT'S A CAUSE.  DOCTOR ASSISTED SUICIDE IS NOT AN ISSUE.  IT'S A CAUSE.  WEARING FUR IS NOT AN ISSUE.  IT'S A CAUSE.  A stupid one, at that. 

We should not be voting for causes in national elections!  We should be DEMANDING that both parties, and both candidates tell us what the hell they are planning to do about poverty, hunger, education, taxes, energy policy, economic policy, trade imbalances, North Korea, Iran, and oh yeah:  WARS. 

Jesus H. Christ, people, get your heads out of your asses, your eyes away from your iPads, and thumbs off your text messages and pay the freak attention!  And this can be directed to the voters in North Carolina in particular who were voting this week on banning gay marriage.  For once in your increasingly meaningless lives wake up and think about, oh I don't know, let's start with the news story I posted on this blog yesterday that no one, still, seems to give a crap about.  I won't tell you here what it is:  Click on to my previous post and read the damned article! 

If gay marriage is a campaign platform for Obama and Romney, then my point is validated by the meaninglessness of this cause.  They (the candidates as representatives of their parties) will be discussing this cause as an emotive diversion to ensure that the voting public won't think about or ask questions related to the above mentioned ISSUES.  

If we loose our freedoms as provided by our Constitution and Bill of Rights, it will be poetic justice.  It will be we the people who, having been bought out by causes and toys, let it all be taken away.  

This IS, after all, a poetry blog.  



Rick Baker 
May 9, 2012 
Rochester, NY 


© 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Monday, May 7, 2012

You Couldn't Care Less, Right?



‎"We're free, until we're not anymore."
-Rick Baker


I personally hold little, if any, hope for the future of freedom, liberty, and privacy in our country.
Read THIS, please. 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Magpie Tales 116: Life Flows




Image: River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth
Shared by Tess Kincaid


water flows 


clinging to the riverbank
                  water flows 
not waiting for decisions 
to let go 
or hold fast. 

rushing currents 
                  push and pull at once 
and at once I'm breathless 

dry land above my head 
                  and out of 
                  sight. 


Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Spring Breezes











skysongs


face the wind, song of nature, 
fly soft against
            its bite and roar.


give thanks for life, 
a rush of breathing, 
skysongs flow 
            forever far. 








Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

City Scenes XII: Civil Freedom,Urban Decay: A Balance?




anarchy of self 


warning signs are everywhere, but 
nowhere do we seem to care about 
what or  who they  were  originally
meant to protect. 

the beginning of the end, perhaps, 
is too much reading between lines,

too little respect for original intent.





Poem © 2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photos©2012 R. Burnett Baker 
Photos taken by R. Baker on Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY March 18, 2012.