This week’s Monday Poetry Prompt from Living Poetry got me writing.
“Write a 10-word poem on an encounter you had this past week with another person.”
I was inspired to write three poems. The first is dedicated to a mystery woman:
Venus rises slow in the west and subsides too soon.
The second is for a very different woman:
Just one date then crazy comes from my first stalker.
And the third is for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Not soldiers, it is protesters I thank for our freedom.
What do you think?
About Bartholomew Barker
Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, a collection of poets in the Triangle region of North Carolina where he has hosted a monthly feedback workshop for more than decade. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he lives and writes poetry.
This week’s Monday Poetry Prompt from Living Poetry got me writing.
Bartholomew Barker, Poet 
I love them all! I thank the soldiers, too, though — not because I approve of our military adventures — but because so many of them sacrifice a lot.
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Glad you like them. While many soldiers have sacrificed a lot, I am still very uncomfortable with how we have fetishized our military.
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I agree we do fetishize them. I try to separate the individual from the system when I can — though no doubt the military feeds the narcissism of certain people. That mentality is dangerous. All I mean is, if someone develops PTSD, I don’t want to say “You should’ve known better.” Personally, I’d like to cancel the military and explore space!
On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 8:08 PM, Emily Cooper wrote:
> I love them all! I thank the soldiers, too, though — not because I > approve of our military adventures — but because so many of them > sacrifice a lot. > > > On Monday, January 19, 2015, Bartholomew Barker, Poet <
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Agreed!
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Lovely poems. Now, which of the first two is about me? ;)
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Maybe both.
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