Alex J. Barrio Writes

" Yes Shelter " is the first story I  wrote to be accepted for publication.  It was inspired by a break-up with a real-life Courtney. Much of the conversation is based on actual conversations we had around Russia's invasion of Ukraine and her dumping me later on. We only dated for a couple of months and it didn't work out, though I did really like her. She's great! I hope one day she sees this and knows that she inspired some art. Please click the story above and let me know what you think either at Onwords or in a comment below.

For years I've run a poetry Twitter called @1001Tanka, with the goal of writing 1001 Tanka poems and eventually collecting them into a book. I still have a long way to go. As Twitter collapses, I thought this was as good a time as any to begin migrating those poems over here. Traditional Japanese tanka poems consist of 31 syllables written in a single, unbroken line. In English translations, the tanka tends to take on a five-line form. Midway through a tanka poem, there's a change in perception. In a sonnet, it's called the volta. In a haiku, there's typically a "turn" between lines two and three. As with a sonnet, the change occurs as a transition from examining an image to examining a personal response. Many of my Tanka poems do not fit neatly into that definition. Rather, I like to use the restrictions imposed by the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format to explore my emotions in a snapshot, like a picture of my feelings. Many of these poems are written on the spot, wi...

Welcome to Alex J. Barrio Writes. I'm Alex J. Barrio.  Throughout this blog you will see my published writings and occasional photography. This post will feature links to all my published works and subsequent posts will elaborate on the writing process behind each piece. You will also find occasional poetry and some commentary. Published Works and Links: "Yes Shelter" - https://www.onwords.io/o/p/df3xoUhaH9J0oWNZ4M4k - DEFUNCT "Phermones" - https://unstamatic.com/2022/11/01/phermones-alex-j-barrio/ "Gravitational Constant" - Order Here "New Years Kiss" - https://roifaineantarchive.wixsite.com/rf-arc-hive/post/new-years-kiss-by-alex-j-barrio "Ourorborous" - https://www.hearthandcoffin.com/post/fiction-ouroboros Feel free to comment or email me at AlexanderJBarrio@gmail.com with questions. Follow me on Twitter at @AlexJBarrio (for politics and prose) and @1001Tanka (for poetry). Thanks for reading!