Silence
by Bartholomew Barker
The silence surprises me—
no more thumping from my chest—
no more swooshing through my ears—
the little gurgles of a living body
are now absent and missed.
The last light to enter these eyes
was from cold clinical fluorescents
as they sewed down my lids—
I felt the puncture of every needle,
including the embalmer's.
Limbs useless, muscles atrophied,
a mind still spinning,
trapped inside a skull in pain,
feeling every itch of my skin—
nose filled with putrid rot.
The last sound was the dirt
hitting the top of the coffin.
Now— eternal silence
which I am unable to fill
with my screams.
Bartholomew Barker is a poet whose first poetry collection,
Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was
published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a
chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. Born and
raised in Ohio, he now lives and works in North Carolina.
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