{prefix}

recent, self published, available:

{hick lore rabbit hole}
poems, October 2016
http://www.lulu.com/shop/barton-smock/hick-lore-rabbit-hole/paperback/product-22914385.html

{depictions of reentry}
poems, August 2016
http://www.lulu.com/shop/barton-smock/depictions-of-reentry/paperback/product-22812020.html

poems, from:

{hick lore rabbit hole}

~coeval~

her child
cracks
in a lifeboat
egg
after egg, her memory

has
that dream
to which
the hangman
gave
his word

~

~the love~

carrying bread
to thirst
in the small home
of my drugged
companion, swearing

on the length
of ah

that scarecrow
not skeleton
be anatomy’s

mistress

~

{depictions of reentry}

~theatrics~

play, image, your joke on heaven.

infancy, you destroyer
of nuance

use
the whole
animal.

~

~zenith~

part
sign-language

the centaur
attends
the mermaid’s

crucifixion…

some of my hair

was cut
for being
blind

some of it
became

a scarecrow’s
purse

~

~loneliness~

the only
animal
recognized
by the magician’s
one-trick
pony

/ touch
giving itself
a childhood

/ an alien’s
crucifix

~

note: do have some copies available for free with request made to bartonsmock@yahoo.com

also, thanks to Forage Poetry Journal for nominating the below for a Pushcart:

https://foragepoetry.com/2016/07/02/three-poems-by-barton-smock/