Five Poems by Christopher Barnes

 

PROPAGANDA 26

 

Kerosene tanks flashed,

Hovering soot.

The rigid veered.

All embodied muddle. 

We doggedly lingered.

 

     *

 

Kerosene

Hovering

             veered

                   muddle

                  lingered

 

     *

 

Kerosene fenced.

Hovering sourness.

Logjams veered by inches. 

We unknotted muddle.

Coachloads lingered.

 

 

PROPAGANDA 27

 

Regiments vanished into shadows,

Downright faint.

An exclamation - my name.

Coverlets litter paving. 

Thwarted, we bilked oblivion.

 

     *

 

Regiments

Downright

     exclamation

                         paving

Thwarted

 

      *

 

Regiments found wanting,

Downright harmless.

Blue-air exclamation.

Living-scratchers mooch on paving.

Thwarted, questers knuckle under.

 

 

PROPAGANDA 28

 

Inclined to burke –

Nascent gamble.

Flopping pilots thick-coming,

Urgent seconds…

Dominance whirled.

 

     *

 

Inclined to

            gamble

              pilots thick-coming

           seconds

Dominance

 

     *

 

Inclined to misreckoning –

Wrong-target gamble.

King’s ransom pilots thick-coming,

Nick-of-time seconds.

Dominance unclouded.

 

 

PROPAGANDA 29

 

Sirocco heatwave.

Belly-timber in garret.

Passionless loudhailer: Undertake cover!

Vault doors ajar.

Maiden rocket whooped.

 

     *

 

Sirocco

                 in garret

                   loudhailer

         doors ajar

           rocket

 

     *

 

Fragrant sirocco.

Quiet in garret.

Loudhailer: All clear!

Several doors ajar.

Rocket wide-berthed.

 

 

PROPAGANDA 30

 

Months of fine-tuning.

Vital prerogatives,

Determined, rigid, impersonal.

Runway's a bear-garden.

Wingless jet crumped into hanger.

 

     *

 

Months of

       prerogatives

                    rigid

Runway's

              jet

 

     *

 

Months of wasted time.

Claptrap prerogatives,

Rigid false logic.

Runway's impromptu.

Jet slams its bull's-eye.

 

 

In 1998 Christopher Barnes won a Northern Arts writers award.  In July 2000 he read at Waterstones bookshop to promote the anthology 'Titles Are Bitches'.  Christmas 2001 he debuted at Newcastle's famous Morden Tower doing a reading of poems.  Each year he read for Proudwords lesbian and gay writing festival and partook in workshops.  2005 saw the publication of his collection LOVEBITES published by Chanticleer Press, 6/1 Jamaica Mews, Edinburgh.

 

On Saturday 16Th August 2003 he read at the Edinburgh Festival as a Per Verse.

 

Christmas 2001 The Northern Cultural Skills Partnership sponsored him to be mentored by Andy Croft in conjunction with New Writing North.  He made a radio programme for Web FM community radio about his writing group.  October-November 2005, he entered a poem/visual image into the art exhibition The Art Cafe Project, his piece Post-Mark was shown in Betty's Newcastle.  This event was sponsored by Pride On The Tyne.  He made a digital film with artists Kate Sweeney and Julie Ballands at a film making workshop called Out Of The Picture which was shown at the festival party for Proudwords, it contains his poem The Old Heave-Ho.  He worked on a collaborative art and literature project called How Gay Are Your Genes, facilitated by Lisa Mathews (poet) which exhibited at The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University, including a film piece by the artist Predrag Pajdic in which he read his poem On Brenkley St.  The event was funded by The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Institute, Bio-science Centre at Newcastle's Centre for Life.  He was involved in the Five Arts Cities poetry postcard event which exhibited at The Seven Stories children's literature building.  In May 2006 he had a solo art/poetry exhibition at The People's Theatre.