Vox Populi
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Barbara Crooker: Sustenance
The sky hangs up its starry pictures: a swan,
a crab, a horse. And even though you’re
three hundred miles away, I know you see
them, too. Right now, my side
of the bed is empty, a clear blue lake
of flannel. The distance yawns and stretches.
It’s hard to remember we swim in an ocean
of great love, so easy to fall into bickering
like little birds at the feeder fighting over proso
and millet, unaware of how large the bag of grain is,
a river of golden seeds, that the harvest was plentiful,
the corn is in the barn, and whenever we’re hungry,
a dipperful of just what we need will be spilled . . .
Copyright 2014 Barbara Crooker. From Small Rain (Purple Flag Press, 2014).
Barbara Crooker’s many collections of poetry include Some Glad Morning (Pitt, 2019). She lives in Pennsylvania.
Northern Cardinal, Chipping Sparrow, and White-breasted Nuthatch. Photo by Brian Maltzan via Birdshare.
Vox Populi 
Simply lovely ❤️
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It really is. I love Barbara Crooker’s poems.
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So do I.
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My wife and I have been in an LDR relationship for 15 years. This poem is lovely. I’ll translate it into Spanish and send it to her.
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What a beautiful thing to say, Matthew. Thank you! I’ll make that Barbara Crooker, the poet, reads this note.
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An appeasing and quietly loving poem.
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Yes, I love Barbara Crooker’s poems for their quiet wisdom and elegant understated presentation.
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And today I wake and my 300 miles is forever. Ache, fear of emptiness
and
I rise with my newly shaved head and try on a new going forward
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A beautiful couplet, Barbara. Keep sending your comments, and get well soon!
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So sweet and truthful a poem was never more gladly received than this day’s.
Thankyou,
-Sean
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Well-said, Sean.
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