Long Barton Poems

Race Track Thinking

16… little did I know the initiation began. 16 is hard enough navigating adolescence. Hormone dumping, the anguishing struggle to fit in any way—- relinquishing my individuality, and being true to myself. Unbeknownst,...

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I: THE UK

Poling, Patching, Nether Wallop, 
Matching Tye and Droop

Plumpton, Lickfold, Puddletown, 
Westward Ho! and Throop.

Hole of Horcum, New Invention,
Boghead, Frome, Cat's Ash

North Piddle, Staines and Pen*stone,
Wash Dyke, East Breast and Flash.

Six Mile Bottom, Mudford...

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"Cry Ugly"

My deepest private searing pain manifests as "Cry Ugly.”

Guttural moans race like a runaway train. The wail crescendos and peaks as a Banshee scream.

Tears race down my face… my nose leaks... snot and tears...

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Doe In My Yard

I glimpsed out my bedroom window looking for nature's signs giving me clues about what today will bring.

A lone doe was nibbling on the southern lawn grass. She slowly raised her head,...

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Race Track Thinking 

I didn't choose an ADHD brain. At times a random whispered thought, barely connected, pops in uninvited, insistent to be acknowledged and immediately included in my conversation… 

Most of the time it's...

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Damaged Goods

Damaged goods describe both the external and internal features. 

After all, external damaged goods refer to those features because the internal features are still whole, functional, useful… Hey, many people delight in getting such...

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...For four years he wandered, a human scourge,
throwing in with the worst type of dregs.
He robbed from so many without a thought,
and when he slept, he saw only red.

He soon was wanted in countless counties,
but...

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"Fierce Review"

Hindsight reviews tells me so much of what I want to keep, change, or completely drop.

My fierce review of my marriage and how my best fell short giving Doug what he earned and deserved…...

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Litmus Test 

Trust is key in all relationships. Everyone has secrets. There's a saying, we're only as sick as the secrets we keep. 

Sharing the secrets that undermine my mental health, absolutely need to be...

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Second Guessing In To Out

Sometimes, I wish… my ears to brain to mouth worked as close to normal as possible. These are the times when I second guess the communication process. Life and communication would...

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Good Enough

Cry Ugly’s shame lost its power.

I took back my power… no longer relying on external validation of my worth…

Unflinching reflection revealed that cry ugly's self-imposed shame was bone deep regret…

I am the only one...

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His given name was Douglas Watson.He was known
to all who knew him at all as Poobie. He was our neighbor in Barton Alabama. His  claim to fame was at the age of nine he...

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Alphabet Soup Stigma
A multitude of letters bob and undulate as I stir the soup. 

I gaze confused when I notice the letters haphazardly merge together…Magnetized letters repel and pull together. 

Slowly familiar acronyms form. PTSD,...

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Bartholomew Barton; his friends called him Barty
Eighteen years old but no birthday party
Slumped in the mud, a gunshot to the shoulder 
But unlike his comrades at least he’d get older

Tyrannical forces sought world domination
And Barty...

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I've visited many towns and cities as I've traversed this old orb,
Their culture, their food, their beauty and architecture to absorb.
Istanbul, Tokyo, Athens, Casablanca and London I fondly recall;
Well-known names, but the names of English...

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You opened your doors in 1998. 

Little did you realise, how highly you’d rate.

With grand halls and ceilings and banisters gleaming. 

When people come to visit, it’s like they are dreaming.

No detail too small, overlooked...

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Slipping

Ed Barton’s head hurt and his chest pounded. Or did his head pound and chest hurt? His problems were sucking him up like a dizzying vortex. “It’s money”, he thought bitterly; “lack thereof, more precisely”....

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With The Dandy, The Beano
The Eagle and Dan Dare
Dick Barton on the radio
The Goon Show on air
Riders of the Range
Journey into space
We kids of the fifties
Had our special place
Glued to the wireless
No screens in sight
The...

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… Oh Yes…. Your  Stinks Too!!!
We all know at least one…

The person who self-aggrandises, intent on making others think, feel, and look less than… while falsely building themselves up to be more than… 

They...

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we've gathered here today oh Lord in Manhattan's Foley Square
trusting and believing that for us You'll always be there
we thank You for the blessings and all that you have done
in our struggle for equality we...

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The Look Is Fast As The Speed of Light

I got the look! 

Instantaneous…eyes snap sidewise faster than the speed of light… 

Freeze tag pinned in place…

Duh da da duh… I'm in trouble, blown something…

No question…...

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Written By:  D. Collins 5/15/25

To Piggy-back what was said by Kendrick Lamar.
I concur that what he said is the way things are.
Around the corner from me used to be Compton High.
On 120th and Central...

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Discovering Light 

Cry Ugly shame lost its power

Shame was regret…

Buying into malicious judgment I wasn't good enough…

He knew I was more than good enough… I gave all I was capable of… 

He loved me because...

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Empty Shell

I caved in its head in my haste to be fed
On the candy that should be inside
But inside was hollow, that’s too much to swallow
So I smashed the damned thing open wide

Dad gave me...

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High upon Barton Creek sits a sacred spot
where water falls and love presides.

Hawks glide over rocky ridges and hiddren trails 
lead to rocky ledges.

Across the creek a magical gateway lies;
I will go there one day...

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