Posthumous Poetry

This remarkable poem was written by my late brother, Robert Barker, sometime around 1969. At this point, he was using a variety of source material including newspapers and dream imagery, combining them in what might be described as word-collages.



A Headline

a headline in the news today
   revealed
a saintly indian would be
   honored
upon Mount Keswyck in new york.

with my eight dollar salary
  I bought
two tickets for the tour which
  promised
a place to eat and sleep.

the tourists would be
   taken
on the Keswyck peak to view
   aurora
borealis illuminate the night.

I planned to bring my father
   on this trip
but was discontent to learn our
   guide would
be Eastern born, but
   american.

so I purchased from a cousin
   in our
living room store another gift,
   slippers
to cover my father's naked feet.