Distraction

Distraction

The thing that’s killing me
is that which first caught my ancestor’s eye.
Until then, I was content to roam the far horizon,

to be that quivering digit in the African plain,
strolling and musing, simply taking my time
when it didn’t matter; crouching at pools,

fishing for food, picking up things which lay around.
You could say it was like a kind of Eden,
for which I didn’t care or mistrust.

But then one day – I can’t recall exactly when –
something sparked, like a piece of flint in the sun;
sharp, fetching blood and an idea.

The rest you know in its outlines;
when the shaping of some tool
turned the wise one into a fool.

*Taken from poetry collection ‘anonymous lines’

http://liten.be//iHKVl

Poem ‘Witness’

Witness

Deep in the darkest place
we feel a faint memory is
lurking unbound like a freeze
on the fast spinning world
a rare sight for we strangers
from the far flung parts
of tenuous space

We must have strolled
those ragged shores
leaving no footprints in the sand
and breathed in deep
the unbreathable air
before sentient life could
crawl out from the sea

We saw the infant sun spill
his light over jagged horizons
and a shattered moon
ascend into sparse skies
to ride across that curious
scatter of stars

Was it us who fostered
the mortal pain of eons?
And did we sanction suffering
from simplicity to sublimity
all borne through this weary flux?

That we were witness
when it began – is true
We will persist to its end
to see star stuff blasted out
when it all starts over again

© copyright Francis Barker 2011

* I’ve had a version of this poem hanging around since I was about 17. This is the latest incarnation and I’m still not satisfied.
* The ‘painting’ is a ‘photoshopped’ adaptation from another painting.

Prints to buy on Saatchi Online – reasonably priced!

http://www.saatchionline.com/profile/284071
I have some reasonably priced fine art prints to buy on Saatchi, either fine art paper or canvas prints of varying sizes. At the moment the styles are all pretty similar, nature and seascapes, but I’m hoping to do some more abstract paintings in the ensuing months.
At the moment none of the print originals are for sale.

Wells Next the Sea – one of my favourite places!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140522514895&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT#ht_505wt_852

The North Norfolk coast is wonderful. I never tire of painting it, which is just as well. Like most parts of England, it is underrated, yet this place at any rate, is extremely popular.

Changes to the Shop!

Some of the smaller stuff can be found here. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/francis-barker-fine-art-and-stuff