What Surrounds
Walking in a cool forest Safe from the heat of the day, the buzz of cicadas, the soundtrack of the woods, Scattered beams of light thru...
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Michael Barnes
Sep 11
Empowered
I've synthesized the universe Into a sedentary brew A distillation process I always had, but never knew Articulated language Specific per...
223
Michael Barnes
Jul 22
Step Forth
To point a sloven soul on the existential path Beset on all sides By invisible barriers, A middle life quandary, To fit the round body...
213
Michael Barnes
Mar 9
The Nature of the Heart
The nature of the heart is to attach and if attached, then it can love, And if it loves, then it could break, and if it breaks, It could...
353
Michael Barnes
Oct 21, 2023
Promises to Keep
(On the Occasion of my Uncle Bill's bench dedication) This day is all we have to live our lives And we live it thru honor, To love the...
220
Michael Barnes
Oct 7, 2023
Going for a Walk on a Sunny Day
Who casts the light upon these trees thru which they stand and shine? The air, I feel but cannot see the blue, above that we agree is...
170
Michael Barnes
Sep 13, 2023
Fall Where They May
Follow in my life path I think I'd like that Thoughts racing thru my head I think I should write that, Identifying the way you feel Won't...
220
Michael Barnes
Apr 30, 2023
Resting in Columbia
Let's keep it above board don't always have to think deep don't have to search for every reason except why i lose sleep. Let's keep it...
291
Michael Barnes
Feb 28, 2023
Nothing
There is a nothingness Inside One that feeds on nothing, Needs nothing. One that begs no begging Relies on no one but myself. And if this...
403
Michael Barnes
Feb 10, 2023
Preying
I walk on frittered grass Beneath A cast iron sky Only one jacket worn-- a fool's plan, But this far out from the door, I'll labor on....
310
Michael Barnes
Dec 25, 2022
The Eve Upon Christmas: A Hungarian Tradition
Twas the eve upon Christmas And the night was near snow We packed in the warm car To my Aunt and Uncle's house we go Driving along...
462
Michael Barnes
Oct 11, 2022
The Night Before A Trip to St. Louis
The night before A trip to St. Louis, The dishes done The clothes packed The zippers drawn The little bottles got A tiny band around 5...
382
Michael Barnes
Sep 21, 2022
Oh, The Silence
Long day End of a long week Went for a drive To bide me some time And buy me some things. Purchased the lot And turned to go home And...
617
Michael Barnes
Sep 19, 2022
Autumn In Atlanta
No longer autumn in Atlanta It's December in Decatur A rainy, cold front Swept the land I wish I'd heard this second hand I'll never...
401
Michael Barnes
Aug 4, 2022
Open
Facing this day I leave my heart open, Like a door ajar, In spite of this day The sun, my skin, and all it scorches I leave my heart...
503
Michael Barnes
Jul 14, 2022
When I Get Here
You can't top the West coast The perfect places-- Los Angeles and San Diego I'll let them be, there. I've got a good view North of...
450
Michael Barnes
May 20, 2022
Family (on the occasion of my Uncle Bill's Remembrance)
Those who love us Must one day leave us, And to those who we love We must one day leave. Memories-- Tiny scenes that extend as wide as...
504
Michael Barnes
Mar 20, 2022
A Good Spot
Of all the talk Politics and movement This one rose And that one fell This group's cursed While that group's lineage endures All that...
270
Michael Barnes
Mar 11, 2022
A Part of the Night
I walk to my balcony The edge of the parking garage Outside my door Of the apartment building, I own the space, On borrowed time, I get...
351
Michael Barnes
Feb 20, 2022
Hiding In The Open
I hide in plain sight The merge of the skyline Moon and shaking trees To my eyeline Stopped in mid-step The from work to car to home...
270
Michael Barnes
Feb 7, 2022
Carve A Life
I am thinking with my soul I was thinking with my head How could I explain to others How I got to where I'm at, I was spinning round in...
391
Michael Barnes
Jan 8, 2022
Shining Yet
A beckoned solitude--rejoice The neighbors are in full voice I hoist the window up a touch To join the seasoned air The whistling,...
270
Michael Barnes
Dec 21, 2021
Passing Thru
I saw an old friend I said how've you been? He chose the awkward path and actually told me: He said I'm suffering man, I've really been...
432
Michael Barnes
Dec 20, 2021
The Wrong Thing
Most times, I click the wrong link I thought the wrong think I drive the wrong way Long stops on short days I meet the right person and...
281
Michael Barnes
Dec 15, 2021
In the Land of the Living
A fight against the light The dark has gone away, I can't wake up, With all the spots to hide And blankets to cover me, My body's made of...
220
Michael Barnes
Oct 23, 2021
Filter the Truth
Save your grace For Sundays and seders And seek your savior's grace, So you can save your place in heaven's line, If you believe in that...
354
Michael Barnes
Oct 3, 2021
My Paradox
(written in 2012) I learned from the martyrs of before me And now I'm here To tell you my incomplete story Told thru every stinkin'...
222
Michael Barnes
Sep 11, 2021
The Little Turtle
I kicked the ball, all done my run, and walked the sidewalk by the wayside of the common tracks of streetcars, vans, and trucks. Round...
361
Michael Barnes
Aug 15, 2021
The Wind Can't Run
Lethargy in the wind an empty current, a lazy river of air, like it's tired of blowing, it wants to run thru the field pull grass...
210
Michael Barnes
Aug 3, 2021
Who Am I To You?
Inspired by "I Am The Antichrist To You" by Kishi Bashi The song that's playing casts a brutal light on all my ungotten wanting. All the...
341
Michael Barnes
Jun 22, 2021
Santa Monica
There's something for everything Sun block for a chapped lip, Polish for a plastic shoe Candy flavors in the coffee cream Almond joy, ...
721
Michael Barnes
Jun 18, 2021
Car Body
It seems much of my time Goes to maintaining my body Like I'm an old classic car Made in 1988, out of production now. I have to replace...
381
Michael Barnes
May 16, 2021
Breathe Deep
There is a quiet in my spirit, I heard it outside first. Beyond the yelling The panicked driving In the cashier's teen-face telling them...
392
Michael Barnes
May 10, 2021
On the occasion of Meghan and Scott’s wedding
Life is what you make of it, and love, the same. Without love, life is a lonesome road. So we fight the lonely moments In the face of...
383
Michael Barnes
Mar 17, 2021
Down the Shore
For meters on end the air hustles to a stop, a hurried silence on a walk. I pass a tree-- each leaf rustles in my passing tinkering off...
583
Michael Barnes
Feb 19, 2021
A Wolf and The Sheep
In speaking of things lost, I believe that I once believed, And I will believe again, In myself. We cannot go so far from home That there...