This week let’s write a poem with the words basic, medical and step in it. This is another of those prompts where I randomly choose three words from a list of the top 1000 words in the English language plus a few of my favorites. Post your poems in the comments below.
About Bartholomew Barker
Bartholomew Barker is an organizer of Living Poetry, where he has hosted monthly workshops 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 the Pushcart Prize in 2021, 2024 & 2025 as well as the Best of the Net Anthology in 2024. His work has appeared in The Lake, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Panoply, Tipton Poetry Journal, the Gyroscope Review and the Naugatuck River Review among others.
Living Poetry 
I was drafted, a naive new college grad.
July, 1969. My Woodstock? A steel pot, an M16 …
Basic training, Ft. Dix, New Jersey …
Scorching heat, drenching sweat,
Ordered to yell ”kill” with each thrust of the bayonet.
I refused.
I refused. Had no ”kill” in me.
Sent to the chaplain who said killing was OK.
Tho scared shitless,.I refused again … No way!
It was then the sky opened up
I was sent to medical training,
Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.
Then on to Walter Reed, Washington, DC
After, to Tripler AMC …
Psychiatric wards.
I worked hard.
These men – and women – needed help.
I served with honor … did all I could …
And learned … The price of doing what’s right
Which can’t be known in advance,
just might provide the chance
To take a first step toward manhood.
.
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Posted by Dennis | June 26, 2023, 8:42 AMWell done, especially the last three lines. If the voice of the poem coincides with the poet’s then I applaud his conscience.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 26, 2023, 8:08 PM100% true, 100% autobiographical.
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Posted by Dennis | June 26, 2023, 8:12 PMIt’s Basic
The simplest, most basic
step I take to avoid bad news
is to forget to make
medical appointments.
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Posted by nolchafox | June 26, 2023, 8:44 PMHa! That’s a good short-term strategy.
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Posted by Bartholomew Barker | June 26, 2023, 8:59 PM