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. 
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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. 

Reclaim My Being

jungle: reclaim
my being 




don't die in the concrete jungle. steel
and glass don't reconstitute. there

are no gentle rains to feed your
bones, canopy shade to cool

your soul. cast temporal worlds aside.
dance talisman steps, shaman you;

walk barefoot on soil. face skyward.
sleep wide-eyed and fearless.

you are past. I am present. I am
begging the vines of your rapture.




Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 
Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
(Photo taken In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 10-21-13)

Streets of Yesterday

reclaiming past 

immortality is desire. I take my share. the opportunist 

me takes more upon the plaited dance of offerings.

Earth is constant renewal - reclaim. we cannot hide,

we will not be delivered. I happen upon my past and

remember tantric movement of mind, then memory 

fails me. it comes and goes with shifting scenery: 

what once was ocean is land. what once was land 

is sea: I am alive and forever so.

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo taken by R. Baker October 19, 2013, North Bridge Road, Singapore.

Random Thought: No reason, necessarily; No meaning, maybe....

human moment:  
the fading light

eventide isn't norm nor 

anomaly, rather it's a 

constant.  unknown is 

whether we are as well.

'constant' defined is relative 

to experiential observations, 

those too, time-framed;  

simple acceptance of this 

as 'norm' may be the norm - 

may be anomaly, as may 

be we. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Magpie Tales 190: Guardian

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Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker
Photo shared by Tess Kincaid.

Sunshine On the Future.....

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Photo/Text © Rick Burnett Baker

Delvin Mind(s)

writer in an 
(un)written world




take, for example, my delvin mind;  
applaud and curry favor.  tend 

the fallowed creations and know it's 
all illusion.  don't reveal this secret:  talisman

smiles ensure continuity.  we dance to
imagined melody, sing each measure

to beats of every manic thought the
paper will hold;  this quill and feather 

thirsts for ink, for lines to read between:
believe me, and my mind becomes chapter.

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Accidental Dumpster Art 2: Blue

© 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Read Between the Lines of Beauty

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Season's Path

Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Create and Imagine

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Magpie Tales 189: Benchmarks and Time

benchmarks

and time

don't consume me.

I fill voids,

take root, 

bequeath beauty, 

(at least for 

beholders) 

we made 

the perfect couple. 

now no one 

notices this flow 

of measured years.

every hour 

is memory, 

each second 

alone a clarion

call:

I won't allow 

disparaging of 

my consort  to 

weathered 

beauty. 

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Image by crilleb50  shared by Tess Kincaid

The Prayer

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Photo/Text © Rick Burnett Baker

Spilling My Imagination Before Sleep...

introductions



we are fantasy and
fathom unseen. mystery,

quantities, quality absolute;
anticipation through curiosity.

expectations drive us, reign
us in to secret imaginations;

who I am is who I am not,
but will that matter? will

you see beyond a vision
of ideal and gather real?

I'll believe and revel in knowing
you as such, hold your essence

gently as I heed the call of
myriad possibilities.


Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

If You See Me

colorless 

if you see me colorless trace my outline.  

search identity between crows feet, my 

eyes begging me shut them tight;  October 

doesn't suffer dreams, so  fold my hands 

across my chest.  listen for a breeze between

stolid lips:   I'll not abandon you.  when 

silent rooms whisper me, prehend the 

echoed history against empty walls.

If you see me colorless touch my face.  warm 

my heart before the evenfall of days.  

Poem © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

Photo © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker 

If We Were Autumn

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker

Shed Expectations

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Photo/Text © 2013 Rick Burnett Baker