Happy New Year y Gracias to the Writers of Bar None Group for 2018!

Our journey this year began on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.

What an incredible year!

The first days of 2018 were spent in Mexico along the Sea of Cortez and the last moments of 2018 are spent anticipating family visits. Thank you to all of you who have read, contributed, inspired and shared the words within the pages of the Bar None Group this past year.

Happy New Year to:

Max Ehrmann's Desiderata: The Christmas Poem that Wasn't

One time presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson had planned to use Desiderata in his 1965 Christmas cards.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

The Eight Most Popular Poems and More from 2018

Here's to smooth sailing in 2019.

These are the poems, essays and more that resonated the most with you our readers in the past year.

The Savior Must Have Been A Docile Gentleman

A Christmas poem by Emily Dickinson.

The Savior must have been
A docile Gentleman—
To come so far so cold a Day
For little Fellowmen—

Christmas Blues of a Young Woman or A Charlie Brown Christmas?

This is not A Charlie Brown Christmas character. We don't have the rights to them.

“I think there might be something wrong with me
Christmas is coming,
But I’m not happy
I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel

They Were Alone in the Winter

A poem for the first day of winter.

Each night, I braid my daughter's hair.
My fingers slip through the thick silkiness,
weaving the strands into a single black stream.

"The air feels like something will happen,"
she says. "Maybe it will snow."

Last Christmas

Some locks open, some locks close. Some locks are found on bridges in faraway places.

I found a small lock
While rummaging through the toolbox
The three attached keys
Would give one cause to believe
That said lock could be opened
But one would be mistaken as I was

The Poetic Journey of Charlotte Green Begins Here!

An untitled poem by Canadian poet Charlotte Green.

I'm used to letdowns
and empty promises

John Greenleaf Whittier and The Mystic’s Christmas

The outward symbols disappear from them whose inward sight is clear.

“All hail!” the bells of Christmas rang,
“All hail!” the monks at Christmas sang,
The merry monks who kept with cheer
The gladdest day of all their year.

Paintings of Inner Meanings by Martha Kaplan

Winter Bamboo Labyrinth.

___ ___        ___ ___ kun
Kun ____ ____    ____ ____
___ ___        ___ ___     earth    female

Louisa May Alcott has A Song For A Christmas Tree

From a Christmas long ago.

Cold and wintry is the sky,
Bitter winds go whistling by,
Orchard boughs are bare and dry,
Yet here stands a faithful tree.

Autumn Is a Painted Lady

Autumn is a painted lady,
Bacchus is her god:
Over hills, through forests shady,
In vermilion sandals shod,
She comes dancing, ever swirling,
Gaily on her way…

For What it’s Worth by Stacy Lake

A small open boat.

For what it’s worth

There's valuable currency in words

Words that support you to cash in

In a real dream, more vivid than technicolor

A being made of multi colored seashells placed three gold coins in my open palm

I felt warm energy, and a sharper friendship with the unknown

The G Suite Blues

Fifty shades of blue. Thirty-nine lines of  blues.

I've been building this site for many long years
A labor of love, of sweat and of tears
It's not a source of income
That's for those who are smart, not like me who are dumb
Every year I pay Google for my little domain
When they come a knockin' wanting pay for my name