POETRY SPOTLIGHT: L E Barrett on The Maine Poetic

Hi, readers!  We have a real treat in store for you today, a poetry spotlight.  In these poetry spotlights today and in the future, we will be showcasing poetry by some very talented poets.  These poets have graced us with their presence.  

With us today is poet L E Barrett.  Here is a little taste of his poetry from his book The Maine Poetic.





http://www.amazon.com/Maine-Poetic-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00I3R77CQ/ref=la_B00H8AZONS_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396634139&sr=1-4THE 20TH MAINE


The 20th Maine remained fixed a top a ridge

Like an old pine forest facing into a blizzard

Boys from Rockland, Bangor, and Waterville

Brave men who came to Gettysburg to fight



Most rooted behind rocks or trees on a crest

While Chamberlain kept yelling encouragement

Each man hot, thirsty, tired and cloaked in smoke

Told to hold a line or the battle would be lost



The gray lads charging again and again to no avail

As a stream below them ran as red as their hearts 

With blood flowing from both the North and South

Keep steady your weapon, make each round count



It was then exhausted men without rounds heard

The chilling order to prepare to fix your bayonet

Mainer’s will not die hiding behind rocks or trees

We take the fight to them who still wants our hill



Without delay each man fixed a bayonet to his rifle

They gave the order to charge down into the fight

As each in his turn did with a hellish screaming shout

Rushed into the dense smoke to face the wall of grey



The spectacle of the 20th wildly howling with bayonets

A grisly scene for weary men who turned their grey line

To be stung by blades and hit by rifle butts as they fled

Running into the bloody hell from once they emerged



Those brave Maine men who stood at Little Round Top

Neither sought nor asked to be the heroes of that day

Brave sons of Maine that turned the day at Gettysburg

Embraced death or fear but not the bitter fruit of defeat 





AN OPEN NOTE TO A DEAD POET


Are the flowers as beautiful

The night sky still as radiant

Is beauty still a feral impulse

That can titillate your senses

Retrieve memories long dead

Talk passionately about a soul



Can one’s love of one survive

Still thrilling the lover’s heart

Or is it just a darken wasteland

Around your unearthly abode

Without a need for expression

Or interpretation of life’s truths



Maybe it’s not all what I envision

Instead you sit close to the light

Beneath a shady grove of trees

And I have caught you just now

Putting down your pen and paper

To admire an enticing bit of verse





THE WITCHES OF NORTH HAVEN


A dozen old pines

Standing very erect

Thirty feet or more

Prickly hairy limbs

Seen thru my pane

Reaching out to me

Or excitedly waving

To get my attention



No guardian Angels

This witch’s brew

Who often lash out

Inside stormy spells

Then turn Statuesque

As if only onlookers

Intent on a good view

At the Tyburn gallows



I have been noticing

In circular formations

Clusters of mushrooms

On pine needle beds

With ancient markings

Formed by pine cones

That could only arise

As a gesture of sorts



Yet they still fascinate

Give credence to tales

Hinted to by neighbors

Town gossip they say

Those potent specters

Inhabit the grounds

Witches of old roots

Seeded in dark times


Poet Bio


The road began for L E Barrett in Hallowell, Maine. It has taken him several times around the world. He grew up in a small Maine river city. At a young age, he enlisted in the Marines and served in Vietnam. He eventually had both a military and senior level government career. He is the father of three sons. He received a Bachelor’s Degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MA and a Masters Degree from the University of Maine in Orono, ME. All along the road, he wrote, he thought, and he wrote some more and more. So that before his days drain away, he will have said what he came here to say! He currently has three books in print (A View From The Side Of The Road, The Maine Poetic and The Shadow Of The Soul) and can be found on Amazon or Kindle and listed on his Facebook page




Books:
http://www.amazon.com/Fiddlemainia-Maines-Organic-Edible-Fern-ebook/dp/B00J3VC5MS/ref=la_B00H8AZONS_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396634139&sr=1-7



http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Soul-L-E-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00I4L342I/ref=la_B00H8AZONS_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396634139&sr=1-2




http://www.amazon.com/View-Side-Road-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00IACRFGM/ref=la_B00H8AZONS_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396634139&sr=1-6



http://www.amazon.com/Maine-Poetic-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00I3R77CQ/ref=la_B00H8AZONS_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396634139&sr=1-4

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