Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Sheltered and Content



multitudes of me


multitudes of me follow and precede
cautious steps unknown;

every moment is eternal, each step
describes the season as ‘uphill’.  

solitude in me listens for silence 
within silence, content. 











Photo Original © by Pat Zarpentine (Original photo not shown on this post)
Photo digitally altered by Rick Burnett Baker
Poem © Rick Burnett Baker
Altered Photos © Rick Burnett Baker

Monday, March 27, 2017

SERIES: The Architecture of Grief and Redemption





















of every passing 


we are 
fire and ash,
water and stone,
flowers and earth.

we are 
sons daughters
mothers fathers 

of every 
passing and ascent 

of night to 
day.




Photo/Poem © Rick Burnett Baker

Thursday, March 23, 2017

This Cross We Bear





SERIES:  The Architecture of Grief And Redemption™















Photos © Rick Burnett Baker 
All Rights Reserved


Wednesday, March 15, 2017

"DREAM. PLEASE EXCUSE OUR APPEARANCE..." ™ A Photo Essay




A Morning Walk
Toronto, Ontario 
Fall of 2016


Presentable.  Looks can deceive,
and yet we hasten to judge, "Get a job." 





The distance between a sidewalk 
and a park bench can be measured
by inches, dollars, or days. As a 
bystander, I remind myself that 
lives are created or destroyed 
by those metrics.





"Homeless 97% Blind
Veteran. Give what u 
Can Afford Please. 
Not For: 
Booze - 16 years without
Smokes - 38 years without 
Drugs - Never taken or tried."

I have the luxury to 
analyze this situation.





Within the juxtaposition of words and reality 
adjacency is sometimes a coincidence.

"DREAM.  PLEASE EXCUSE OUR APPEARANCE..."

Someone less fortunate than me offers 
a helping hand.  Shamefully, I cannot
say that this is a coincidence. 






I ask myself, "Who hasn't dreamt of being 
young and rich." 

I harbor that thought not with sarcasm, not 
as dark humor, but with a keen awareness of 
the irony in this scene.  

The word 'humility' comes to mind. Beneath
the surface, there lurks a sense of guilt.




Photos/Text ©Rick Burnett Baker
All Rights Reserved