Happy New Year!

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Waiting For Flowers

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker in Singapore, October 2013.

What Do YOU Need?

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo by R. Baker taken in Webster, NY.

Portal - Without/Within

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© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Merry Christmas!

But Not a Rose

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Discretion

 

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Ornament

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Touch the Snow

touch snow 


let winter live alone, and 
me remember alone, also. 

you want to touch snow,
as I have; as I have in your

eyes. there: there is the shadow
of a spruce on frozen ground.

Poem/Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Recall This Place of Us

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For JH 

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 2013. 

Wordless Thursday Morning...

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Taken this morning in my backyard.....

What Do YOU See?

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Photo/poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Under Wraps

no names; no numbers

sullen is face.  hidden is motive.  

these are mysteries of projects

under wraps:  need to know basis

is operative for me.  no one needs

to know:  it's operative for the greater 

good, but not always.  keep your 

darkness, and I'll keep mine.  should 

we meet beneath the street lamp 

there'll be just enough light for salutations: 

say hello and simply leave it at that. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Lives/Fragments

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Magpie Tales 196: Style

style  (in)adequate 

I have my style.  

it isn't yours. 

that's ok, because

I don't always

understand your

sense of it.  often

I drink in self-critique 

over my lack of 

vocabulary.  simplicity 

doesn't linger in our 

eyes, however.   look 

into mine - big words 

swim saline oceans,

tread water, then 

crawl to the shore 

of my face to whet 

a forest of thought.  

I like the forest.  there 

is danger, but safety,

too.  in it , style glides 

beneath a canopy of 

leaves, a soothing 

balm of breeze that 

needs no vocabulary. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo "Wings" shared by Tess Kincaid.

Stolid and Staid

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

On Second Thought, Skip the Pain

masochist 

if you opened your body 
the way you open your mind
there would be little to explore:

caverns are void, dark, damp. 
cold. the perfect ambiance 
for emotional stasis: you exist. 

my fingers skirted the heat
of your presumed passion
and never got burned.

that's one pain I'd relish
just for the morality of the
sudden, involuntary recoil. 

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Happy Thanksgiving!

How Could I Know? Could You?

subversive



how could 
I know?

this blowing
snow is

icing on
the cake

candles lit
in a fireplace

pit. on my
mind

an image
recalled:

how you
looked when

I picked
you out

of the
crowd:

how the
crowd

gave me
refuge from

that social
insurrection. 



© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Two Poems

seasoned

there are rumors of winter, my 

metaphor December, yours May.

our senses are nuanced contrasts:

you proffer seduction, I hesitate. I 

know this transition - resistance 

is a form of weakness. what I wear

on my sleeve is never fashionable.

neither are old jeans and flannel. 

but season-appropriate is need;

warmth and submission, desire.

night sweats

tonight I leave this to memory: 

scent. texture. contour. heat.

posture. position. intent. your 

skin:  taste is bitter salt;

stinging sweat;  rhythmic-sound

of breathing. is that you?  is 

this recall or fantasy?  lights out. 

volume up.   sedition is under cover.

Poems © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Life Fragments

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken on Beach Road, Singapore.

November Summer

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken November 16, 2013 Lake Buchanan, Texas.

Here and Now

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken in Singapore, October 2013.

Voice of Beauty

                             



















Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken at Marina Bay in Singapore, October 2013.

Soul: Alex The Plant

During my recent visit to Singapore I came across this scene hidden in plain sight:  Alex The Plant.

Alex lives (or lived) on Haji Lane in Singapore.  I found this amusing, but sad all the while.  Surely there must be more to the story of Alex The Plant.

And so, my tribute to Alex...

Alex The Plant

emotion spent is 

the soul of what 

we consider to be

significant. 

we label.  we name.

nurture. cling when 

clinging cannot hold. 

but that is what 

names our souls - 

gives hope to all  

living and passing.

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photos © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

No Names. No Numbers.

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Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Truth Serum Series: Truths of Imagination

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken near Jalan Sultan Mosque, Singapore.

Truth Serum Series: Rag and Bone Man

I remember the "rag and bone" men and women when I lived in Singapore.  Apparently they still ply the streets there, albeit in fewer numbers.

I took this photo hastily, and while cropping it I noticed what the man seems to be looking at on the far sidewalk.  I'm struck by the juxtaposition of apparent status between the tourists taking photos, and the man trying to earn his living at what most of us might consider to be a less than desirable job.

What might he be thinking?

Did those tourists even notice him on the street?

Sometimes, compassion is fleeting, if present at all...


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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken on South Bridge Road, Singapore. October 2013.

You and I In Season

as we change



you shed seasons. 
I am one. 

I prevail as long as 
the sky allows.

you are young.
yet with each shedding 

you will change. 
you, too, 

will look to the sky 
and welcome

all color it offers, 
sunlight at 
your feet. 


Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Re-read

second-hand book



improbable is understated.
there should be no doubt
a re-read is out of the question.

affinity is an excellent substitute
for affection. as pairings go, 
surface views yield no warnings;
but haven't we read that history?

countless volumes sit on shelves -
in the backs of minds centuries old.
words are unnecessary for chapters:

skip the details. read the last page.

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

In a Moment: Truth

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo taken October 2013 near Arab Street, Singapore 

Collective Sense of Self

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken by R. Baker.  Pedestrian tunnel near Clarke Quay, Singapore.

Crossings: Looking Forward

In the foreground of this photo is my close friend Louis.  We worked together in Saudi Arabia and Singapore many years ago.  I've seen his children born, grown, and now with children of their own.

We went to Little India one night two weeks ago in Singapore for dinner at Banana Leaf Apolo, a place we used to eat when I lived there.  Afterward, we sat for a couple of hours over coffee at the food stalls and talked of old times.

I hadn't noticed him in this photo before tonight, and actually, hadn't really notice the photo at all among over 2400 I took during my recent trip.  For some reason I was drawn to it and just wrote this poem for it.

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Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Struggle As Pop-Culture

This is a photo of a section of a poster mural in a pedestrian tunnel near Clark Quay, Singapore. 

There are several parts to this mural that I will eventually post. I found the scenes and words quite interesting for the varied social commentary that was discouraged in Singapore when I lived there. 

I've written a short poem for this section of that mural. 
______________________________________________________


history as
pop culture



speak to us of dark days. we
hear of war below. hunger formed

foundations of effort. patina skins
became riot. blood was struggle,

shed for recompense of need. who
was the mother of this caretaker?

who is the recipient of legacy?
cacophony voices swallow air, your

eyes seek recognition. speak to us
of dark days to witness light above.

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo taken by R. Baker in Singapore, October 2013. 

Behind Closed Windows

airing

pry apart your prison heart.  there 

is light at the tunnel entrance, not 

so sure about its end.  you must 

search yourself for that beacon.  let 

your guard down.  you'll survive if 

not your confidence, and that too, 

will be the test of the view.  pry apart

wires, curtains, possessions.  break 

the barrier of insular emotion;  I'll take 

your hand and walk you to sunlight. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken on Haji Lane, Singapore.

Beyond Reason. Again.

repeating 

itself / myself

these bone-weary 

histories are 

beautifully bleak,  

colors fading 

before mine -  

yours now 

epilogue vision. 

progeny passes 

and I become so,  

sitting on legacy of 

crumbled stones.  

piece them together.

don't forsake dreams: 

they are refuge.  

they sustain. 

they color histories 

beyond reason. 

you come to mind, 

defying reason, too. 

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Hear and See: You

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

A Taste of Honey

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
                       

Ripples

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Legacy Passages.....

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken in Chinatown, Singapore October 24, 2013.

Bird Has Flown

the bird on Haji Lane



fly me to the moon. gather
stars into tales of romance,

desert sands below us - our
neolithic lives waiting for excavation.

talk to me. talk back to me.
save me from those pasts that

soak the earth as your tears
of endings have forever. glance

back once, but don't allow it
a final telling of our tale.



Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo taken by R. Baker October 24, 2013 on Haji Lane, Singapore.