Monday 2 October 2017

Jazz Cigarette?

So my recent visit to Manchester inspired so much artistic stimulation, conversations, debates and ultimately writing too and I'm pleased to see one of the poems 'Harmonies of Morning' published in Jazz Cigarette's 5th e-anthology. (http://www.jazzcig.com/k_barton_01.html)

Sunday 17 September 2017

Just Because

Cos’ I see cocooned
exclamations and dormant questions
in foetal positions
the punctuated lives
of rough sleepers
in the crevices
of sleepwalking cities.

Friday 18 August 2017

rain

how beautiful the rain drops
musically ricochetted off 
rooftops and leaves
while I freeze
listening

Tuesday 15 August 2017

Spice of Life?

So, the past few months have seen me...

sitting my end of year exam (don't even ask!)
heading off to festivals (well it is the summer!)
and spending time in Manchester taking in the sights, sounds, and vibe of the city.

I've been writing too. I've finally got my writing head back on and find that I just can't stop writing about the things that really matter, heartfelt observations of 'life'... and too. I'm especially caught up in the issues of the Manchester spice epidemic; an insidious drug that leaves people like zombies and is so endemic in the city center that folk just walk past as if the afflicted are invisible.

Good news comes in the form of acceptances of a poem about the first woman of colour recorded as a barmaid/courtesan in Londons West End in the 1700's. This will be published by Smeuse in the autumn - September I think. The poem is an erasure and I'm sure it'll look fab in the publication... can't wait to see it in fact.

More good news is that I have had 5 poems accepted by Otoliths, one about a family member who died recently and another about the spice problems - both using unusual formatting so doubly pleased that they have found a good home.

I'll be posting links as and when all the above are published.
It's good to be back!!!

Friday 3 February 2017

Trumped-On

There is a new phenomenon in our house – the Daily Trump.

It starts with receiving the latest mad political news, at home or abroad, and pretty much ends that way too… a Daily Trump and a coffee to wash it down cos it always gets stuck in my throat.

My nearest and dearest think that I am a protest poet, and it’s true that I write protest poetry – breast ironing, enforced wearing of the veil, injustices old and new – but I find that’s the best way to counter those things that I personally cannot change.

Luckily, I tend to see beauty in the most peculiar places – a mermaid swimming into a mackerel sky, or other escapist fantasies but really…. this is surely a time of not learning from history and forgetting our humanity.



So, for all the Trumped-Up stuff
Trumpeted about by the huf-
fing-and-puffing types, my
Trump Card
is
a brick house built
of unshakable stuff
beliefs in a better World.
And while
the trumpeters
trumpet their trash, I’ll scratch
my disquiet and my disgust
pen-tattooing
white paper with black ink
black paper with white ink
and shut out their Trumpeted stink

till I can think above their din...
and the world’s enlightened again.

Monday 30 January 2017

This Dark Lanterns Gall

So pleased to see my poem This Dark Lanterns Gall published by the Fem Literary Magazine. It is an erasure poem inspired by the Metaphysical poet Katherine Philips and reacts to the exclusion of female poets from the Penguin compilation The Metaphysical Poets - using the list of titles from a single page representing those that were included.
A huge 'thank you' to Autumn Spriggs for the inclusion.

https://thefemlitmag.com/poem-by-karen-barton-be19e76fb754#.wfik8e2yl

Monday 9 January 2017

Light on the Frosty Horizon.


Perhaps there's light on the somewhat frosty horizon.

I’m taking one of many breaks from my essay writing – there are times when my whole mind and body say ‘NO!’ and sadly, today is one of them. I'm struggling to get my head out of recent events and into the world of dissecting survey plans from the 1700's. I bet you're more sympathetic having heard that aren't you?

So, the latest excuse is to post this message about a found poem I have had published by ‘Thank You For Swallowing’. It is a found poem using Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to make a point about how far female roles have not come. Don’t let that put you off though… I hate suppression wherever it rocks up.