Mrs. Butterworth, Uncle Ben & Aunt Jemima

Author(s):

Richard M. Berlin, MD

Key Takeaways

Frank X. Walker, a Kentucky native, co-founded the Affrilachian Poets and edited PLUCK!, a journal for Affrilachian art and culture.
Walker's accolades include the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry and serving as Kentucky's poet laureate.
Richard Berlin, MD, has written monthly poems for Psychiatric Times for 26 years, focusing on his experiences as a doctor.
Berlin is an instructor in psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and author of the book Tender Fences.

"The headlines said Well-Loved American Foods Resisted Arrest, Failed to Comply, and Were Delicious While Black."

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares the poem "Mrs. Butterworth, Uncle Ben & Aunt Jemima," by Frank X. Walker. Walker was born in Danville, Kentucky and earned a BA from the University of Kentucky and an MFA from Spaulding University. He helped to found the Affrilachian Poets group and served as founding editor and publisher of PLUCK!, the new Journal of Affrilachian Art & Culture. He is the author of numerous books, and his awards includes the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.Walker served as the poet laureate of Kentucky from 2013 to 2015. He is an associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 26 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.