This week let’s write a scrapbook poem. It could be about making a scrapbook or looking through a scrapbook or maybe even making a poetic version of a scrapbook where each stanza is a distinct image, like a snapshot. Post your album in the comments below.
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.
Living Poetry 
(An excerpt, Beat 9, of a playlet written and performed at the St. Louis (MO) Fringe Festival, 2017. The play – Didn’t You See Us. A story of the children of the Syrian Rising.)
Who Is God
The god of the Jews brought us law … and taught us vengence.
The god of the Christians brought us love … and taught us hypocrisy and indifference.
The god of the Muslims brought us peace … and taught us intolerance.
Who is this God? This being who gives life … who raises us up from dust and ash … then strikes us down … even those too young to have committed any crime?
We talked among ourselves … lest our parents disapprove … only wishing to understand.
Some said they didn’t know who God was … some that He was real … others said strong … Maryam said God was a woman – because only a mother could see such evil, and still love the doers of such deeds.
Many said God created all things but … we found that too hard to believe – that God created all this …
A neighbor boy, Peter, drew a picture – a man with large eyes, a huge smile … his arms stretched out impossibly wide so he could ‘’hug every one’’ … we loved that image …
[pause – sadness]
Me? I could only think God must be heartbroken …
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Posted by Dennis (Donncha) | February 27, 2023, 7:52 AMNice. Thanks for sharing.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | February 27, 2023, 6:55 PMLikeLike
Posted by Bartholomew Barker | March 3, 2023, 9:39 PM