Over and Again

rut



banal is routine, grind a state of mind.
easy to say that it is, but it is. 'dead end'

is cliche but certain. tolerate self-dissing
effort if necessary, but know it isn't. state

of mind is power, it's said: self-fulfilled 
prophesy. bullshit is easier said than done. 

so alarms are set before sunrise. enthusiasm 
as a word is as Coptic as the language: old 

gets old. pointless to use that as an excuse 
as clock-watching kills us by the hour.




Poem ©2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Magpie Tales 188: Once We Gathered....

where once we all gathered 



where once we all gathered, others do.
the path is continuity, every voice, change.

shadows are recall, a blur of faces, too. 
do you remember the cadence of laughter? 

can you step jolly over jagged paths?  future
has no mind to desire;  wind will turn leaves,

rain will dampen every ground, its water
falling torrid as the bitter past. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo shared by Tess Kincaid

In The Moment...

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken off Park Ave. in Rochester, NY on September 28, 2013.
Line is from a poem by R. Baker, "Living a Moment"  2005.

Embracing Every Moment

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken morning of September 28, 2013.

Living On....

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Loneliness/Alone-ness

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Autumn Years and Character

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Beauty Is......

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

On This First Day of Autumn

assembly 


they gather at the 
breakfast club.  there 

are stories. gossip. 
years of recall.  clusters 

assemble in the park 
to protest time.  "seems 

like only yesterday."  but 
yesterday is here.  some 

will take the bench of 
respite to sit.  talk 

is softer under autumn's 
gaze.  days are shorter. 

"sweater weather,"  he 
says with a smile.  

Photo© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Poem© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken on Park Avenue, Rochester, NY.

Strong/Weak Dichotomy

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Cling To You

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken at Chimney Bluff State Park, NY.

Last Days of Summer

It was a picture perfect summer afternoon. Summer comes to a close this week. But I spent today at Chimney Bluff State Park along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, just east of Sodus Bay, New York. 

Chimney Bluffs are 40 miles south of Prince Edward County, Ontario in Canada....not terribly far from my friends Linda Frasier and Steven Leak. 

I have MANY photos to share, ( took over 450 shots!) but for now, just one with a poem I wrote just a few minutes ago. 

What a beautiful beautiful day!

Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

On the Cusp

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo take by R. Baker at Letchworth State Park, NY Sept. 8, 2013.

Tulips In Autumn; Tulips For Winter

Still 

a few days 

of summer remain.

I'll see

tulips 

as Autumn 

arrives, 

and when 

winter 

snow 

is 

falling.

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Beauty of Abundance

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken at Letchworth State Park, NY Sept. 8, 2013.

Politics of Poetry

politics of 
poetry 



there is no democracy 
in poetry. only anarchy.

that is how it should be. 
no one votes beauty or 
majoritizes meaning; 

connection is a private 
affair.  the 'eyes' have it. 


Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Season's Song

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken in Letchworth State Park, NY September 8, 2013.

A Season Is A Poem

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Photo/Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken on Park Avenue,  Rochester, NY September 14, 2013.

Truth Serum Series: Identity

Note:  I began this series last year with the epigrams on photos of blue sky and clouds.  I've begun reworking them onto photos that hopefully will offer more depth to the text and be thought provoking as well.  


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Photo/Text © 2012, 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Truth on Wings

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo by R. Baker taken Sept. 8, 2013 at Letchworth State Park, NY.

Photos From My Photography/Epigram Show Titled "Potentials of Us (U.S.)

"Potentials of Us (U.S.)" 

Photo/Poetry/Epigram Show by Rick Baker 

September 6, 2013

Aviv Cafe Gallery

Bethel Christian Fellowship 

East Avenue 

Rochester, New York

Thank you again, to everyone who came to the event last Friday to make the show a success! And thank you to all of you who offered support and encouragement but were unable to attend! We had a gathering through the evening of between 50 and 60 guests. This was a fun evening with friends and others I met for the first time. 

Thanks again to Pat Zarpentine for her support and for introducing me to the First Friday Gallery Night events in Rochester.  

Another thank you to artist and gallery director Richmond Futch Jr.  for hosting this event, and for all his encouragement. 

Thank you also to First Friday - Citywide Gallery Night, Rochester NY, and to all the supporters and sponsors of this monthly event. 

It's my hope that some of the images and words will challenge those who see and read them to think about their surroundings differently each day. That's what the showing was and is all about! 

Thanks again to you all....I'm honored to know you all, and humbled by your kind words and friendship! 

Here are a few select photos from the event. 

Rick 

My mother, Betty Stovall Baker

Snacks from Edible Arrangements & Wegman's 

My mother and Pat Zarpentine

Summer Down the Path.....

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo taken by R. Baker at Letchworth State Park, NY, September 8, 2013.

Magpie Tales 185: Remember and Remember

paths incarnate: 

revisited

abundance describes us perfectly - 

opportunity too. convenience 

is a lighted path - toss the maps 

in a bin;  no shortage of owner's manuals 

to predetermined clarity. 

try beating an intellectual path then do it.

(if you can see that well at night)

think neon:  a visual allergy making 

you blink, rather than think. 

a pitch black forest at the end of your steps

is dark - is 

either life abbreviated or extended 

                    for one or the other.

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Rockwell Painting shared by Tess Kincaid.

A Poem Before My Art Show

unself


upon the countenance of wisdom
we are in need; we search; we 
falter; 

we cling. there are hands to hold
words to encourage, dreams to 
unfold;

in that is the allowance of requite
to see the other side and believe
clemency.



© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

My First Gallery Show Preview

The photos are hung. Friday is day after tomorrow, and my first showing begins! 

Here are a few photos of the gallery after we got everything set up. Many thanks to Pat Zarpentine for her help today, and encouragement all along. 

Thanks also to Richmond Futch Jr. who was there today to help us and offer valuable suggestions and encouragement. Richmond is the director of the gallery and an accomplished artist many of you have seen and will see again. 

Hope to see you all at the event this Friday!

Magpie Tales 184: Out On A Limb? A Political Comment

on human rights, 

doves of peace,

and hypocrisy

cow shit fertilizing the 

garden 

does not equate 

blossoms 

on the moral high road. 

sit high and observe. 

pontificate. 

tighten your thorny 

halo. 

wear it as a 

crown. 

pretend to feed the 

masses

with seeds of piecemeal 

hope

on ethnocentric rendering.

climb the 

high mountain.

swim the 

deep ocean. 

shoot the 

cosmos stars.

win 

hearts and minds.

when tilling 

the garden 

consider: 

moral high roads 

are constructs of 

intellectual relativity. 

cow shit 

holds

its own rewards. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo by Jeanie Tomanek shared by Tess Kincaid.