Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year!




























© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Waiting For Flowers


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

Thursday, December 26, 2013

What Do YOU Need?


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

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Portal - Without/Within


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© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Saturday, December 21, 2013

But Not a Rose


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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 


Friday, December 20, 2013

Discretion


 

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Ornament



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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Monday, December 16, 2013

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 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

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. 

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Wordless Thursday Morning...





















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

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

What Do YOU See?


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Photo/poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 


Thursday, December 5, 2013

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


Monday, December 2, 2013

Lives/Fragments


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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Sunday, December 1, 2013

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.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Stolid and Staid


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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Thursday, November 28, 2013

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

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

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

Saturday, November 23, 2013

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.

Friday, November 22, 2013

November Summer


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

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Here and Now


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

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Voice of Beauty





                             



















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

Wednesday, November 13, 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 



Tuesday, November 12, 2013

No Names. No Numbers.


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

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Truth Serum Series: Truths of Imagination


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


Saturday, November 9, 2013

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.

Friday, November 8, 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

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

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 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

In a Moment: Truth





Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Photo taken October 2013 near Arab Street, Singapore 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

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.

Friday, November 1, 2013

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

Thursday, October 31, 2013

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 co
mmentary 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.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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

Monday, October 28, 2013

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.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Legacy Passages.....




























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

Thursday, 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.