Kim Barney Poems

Last night I went to bed at eleven
And dreamed I went to Poetry Heaven.
Keeper of the Gate was not Saint Peter
But Robert Frost - - hey, what could be sweeter?
...

If I look in the mirror
And myself I do not see
Does it mean that I'm not really here,
That I have ceased to be?
...

My head is bald,
but I don't care.
I'm not so tall,
but I don't care.
...

The storm is an angry lion;
With one hoarse, strident roar
He sends the small animals
Scurrying to shelter.
...

I was sitting in my garden
Just relaxing in my garden
Doing nothing in my garden
When I saw a butterfly
...

War.
Ugly.
Terrible.
Unforgiving.
...

A young man had been shopping in a women's clothing store.
He'd bought his wife a Christmas coat, and was headed for the door,
when he bumped into a little boy that looked like he was lost,
who said, "Mister, can you help me find out how much something costs?
...

I still wear a white shirt every Sunday;
it makes it seem like things are normal still.
I'm sure they'll let us back in church some day,
that little red brick building on the hill.
...

Sometimes I dream that while I sleep
my toys get up and start to creep
around the room and on my bed
and pull my hair and poke my head.
...

I'm becoming less, as you can see.
Just what am I supposed to be?
I keep losing syllables.
If I don't stop shrinking
...