a life, written in verse
By R. Ray Barnes
author, poet, actor,
music producer, songwriter
about the poet
Soft. Unpredictable. Always toward the light. For over a decade he has taken the ordinary business of loving — a wife, a family, a spiritual devotion, an ordinary Tuesday — and turned it into verse that moves between the sacred and the plainspoken, the tender and the unfiltered.
A 2019 Michigan Regional Emmy winner, R. Ray Barnes has spent over forty-five years as a music producer and songwriter ⎯ collaborating with his 3-time Grammy Award winning partner, Tony Coleman, they have worked with major recording artists the likes of Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, James Ingram, Aretha Franklin, The Pointer Sisters, Lee Greenwood, Rita Coolidge and many others. He is the author of Queen Pin: The Story of Yvonne Barnes and the Motown Records Bowlerettes, a tribute to his mother who was known as “the Rosa Parks of bowling,” and to the other extraordinary women who comprised their championship team. Beyond writing and music, he created the biblical board game Resurrection: The Life Of Christ, and authored screenplays, stage plays and the animated proposed feature, The Adventures of Rapman & Homeboy and the Hip-Hop Posse.
Written for the love and beauty within us all and dedicated to his mother, father, family and mentors that shaped him, The Art of Poetry is one long love letter told in five parts — to romance, to grief, to jazz, and to the faith that carries a heart through all of it.
— with heart, always
a picture's worth a thousand words
Before the poetry there were the stories told on screen and in song — work recognized by his peers with some of the craft's highest honors.
Winner · 2019
Presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Michigan Chapter, for Interview/Discussion — Left Behind in Vietnam. Produced by R. Ray Barnes with iMichigan Productions and Peaceful Warriors Foundation.
Winner
Presented to R. Ray Barnes for Outstanding Television or Cable Program, honoring distinguished creative work across screen, song, and the written word.
forty-five years in the studio
As music producers and songwriters, he and Tony Coleman have shared stages and sessions with the generation of legends named here and many more ⎯
Also profiled in the “Spotlight on Ray” press feature.
five volumes, one voice
Each volume is a chapter in one long love letter — to romance, to grief, to jazz, and to the faith that carries a heart through all of it.
Click a cover to read a sample poem
A soulful collection that explores the depth of human emotions, love, spirituality, and self-reflection. Every poem flows like a conversation between the heart and mind.
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Get on AmazonIdeas float off the page like butterflies. A spirit of love, peace, and joy accompanied by powerful poetic images of pain, courage, passion, and triumph.
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Get on AmazonWhen you inner-connect spiritually with that special someone, the energy created gives birth to a oneness that transforms you — a manifestation of love greater than either could be alone.
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Get on AmazonThe widest lens — faith, gratitude, and a life measured in grace rather than time. Love becomes the most important occurrence, mirroring the first love the Creator had for humankind.
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Get on AmazonYour life is refined and unlimited by its contour on the inside. The fifth volume opens the lens widest of all — exploring love, faith, jazz, and the broad spectrum of colors that define the human heart.
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Get on Amazonthe journey
From a napkin poem to five published volumes — every chapter of
R. Ray Barnes's poetic life.
A love letter scribbled on the back of a napkin becomes the seed of something much larger — the very first poem that would one day fill five volumes.
The sounds of Coltrane and Miles begin weaving their way into verse. A collection of jazz poems takes shape, blurring the line between music and poetry.
What began as a metaphor for transformation becomes the central image of the work — fragile, beautiful, forever becoming.
The first volume is completed. Love poems written over six years are gathered into a single, coherent voice.
Transformation and longing take center stage. The second volume deepens the exploration of change, beauty, and letting go.
Devotion goes deeper. The third volume strips away pretense to explore the raw, patient, deep-sea quality of waiting and being known.
The fourth volume widens the lens from romance to everything: faith, family, gratitude, and grace measured not in years but in grace.
The collection expands into a unified body of work. The series is gathered into a single, coherent voice — a love letter told in verse.
New poems are written. Readings, interviews, and a growing community of readers who find their own stories in the verse.
The fifth volume opens the lens widest of all. The series completes itself as five volumes, one voice — a love letter told in five parts.
There is no final poem. Every ordinary moment holds the seed of the next extraordinary line.
the process
Every poem begins with a moment — a conversation overheard, a sunset that won't let go, a memory that insists on being felt.
Words are shaped by rhythm. Each line is tested against silence. If it sings, it stays. If it doesn't, it waits.
The finished poem is not mine. It belongs to whoever reads it and finds their own story between the lines.
a taste of the verse
Jazz is Hot…
Like sunlight, its energy is always aglow…
as its Rhythms move through you
like a hot lava flow…
— All That Jazz
It is in silence
that God speaks the loudest…
and
She even sometimes sings!
— God Speak
LOVE
is comprised of a broad
Spectrum of COLORS…
&
HATE
is merely a dull array of GRAYS…
— In Living Color
what moves the pen
Every poem rests on something deeper than words — a feeling, a belief, a person. These are the pillars that hold up five volumes of verse.
The kind that writes itself in the margins of every day
A quiet trust that the music will find its way back
Improvisation as a form of devotion, rhythm as prayer
The people who gave him both the words and the silence
Arriving unannounced in kitchen light and ordinary moments
The beautiful ache that keeps the pen moving
beyond the verse
The pen does not stop at poetry. These companion works reach into faith, reflection, relationships, and family history — the same voice, turned toward other kinds of truth. Every title is available now on Amazon.
A plain-spoken companion for the seeker — a gentle, accessible path through the nature of God, the quiet power of Spirit, and the many shapes of Love. Written for anyone who has ever wanted the sacred made simple.
God, Love & Spirituality
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An invitation to pause. A collection of meditations, sometimes loud, and sometimes quiet provocations that ask the reader to sit with themselves — in the corner of a room, in thought about the lives of Negros, Colored People, Blacks and African Americans as they delt with the transitions in identity from one to the other— He explores various narratives, from what he labels as Go Sit In these different corners And Think. There is “The Peoples Corner,” dealing with life in general; “The Street Corner,” tackling issues from the street side of Black life; “The Love Corner,” rather speaks for itself; “The Righteous Corner,” commenting on, and exploring religion, the church and faith; and finally, “The Ladies Corner,” poems from a female perspective.
Poetry - Literature - Regional & Cultural - Black & African American
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Sixty-nine candid, warm-hearted ways to deepen connection — with 43 poems, photographs, and a few laughs along the way. Written with Roberto Casanova & Julie Lovelace, featuring photography by LaSalle Barnes. The same voice that writes of love in verse, turned toward the everyday art of loving well.
Kindle, eBooks, Love, Romance and Poetry
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The true story of Yvonne Barnes — the author’s mother — and the Motown Records Bowlerettes, the first all-Black female pro team that won first place in the highest-scoring all-white league in the United States. As well, Yvonne built the largest youth bowling league in the nation while simultaneously fighting the prevailing racial inequities in both youth and ladies pro bowling. A tribute to a woman once called the “Rosa Parks of bowling,” and to an era that moved to its own rhythm. Available on Amazon in Kindle, Audiobook, and Paperback. See Promo Trailer Below.
Kindle, eBooks, Biography, Sports, Bowling
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official trailer
Produced by R. Ray Barnes himself, this short film opens the door to Queen Pin: The Story of Yvonne Barnes & The Motown Records Bowlerettes — the true story of his mother, the woman called the “Rosa Parks of bowling,” and the all-Black female team that triumphed inside a divided America.
Watch it here, then read the story the way only her son can tell it.
A Queen Pin video promotion by R. Ray Barnes Productions.
quote of the day
“If you Free the Love you have Within, you’ll never be Without Love.”
— Volume I — Thoughts Dancing From Heart To Mind
a moment in verse
So don’t hope to
fall in-to love,
hope to be-come love…
Then Love will
fall out-of you,
in abundance—
— from Volume I: Love Is Always & Forever
kind words
Real ratings from real readers — every rated title in the collection holds a perfect five stars on Amazon.
Every rated title on Amazon
From Volume I through Queen Pin, every rated book on R. Ray Barnes' Amazon author page holds a perfect five-star average — a rare, unbroken mark of reader love.
Rated by Amazon readers
The true story of Yvonne Barnes and the Motown Records Bowlerettes — the woman called the “Rosa Parks of bowling” — strikes the same five-star chord with readers.
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Each published volume carries a perfect five stars from Amazon readers, in every edition — verse that meets you where you are and stays with you.
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bring the verse home
Five volumes. One heart, unfolding — plus Queen Pin and more, all available now on Amazon in Kindle and print editions.