I Think Too Much by Bartholomew Barker

It was a good thing at school
or the office where I'm paid
to sit still and think
for eight hours a day
but it's a problem
the rest of the time

Does she want to be more than friends?
Why hasn't she texted me back?
Am I being too clingy?

Like a vaudeville plate spinning act
my thoughts spiral to desperation
I should learn to trust my instincts

I'm a moth and she's the flame
I just have to accept the singed wings

About the Poet:

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His 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. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.